Sixteen Candles
by K.C.Dragonfly
Summary: It's hard being a teenager, and even harder being the parent of a teenager. Lindsey Willows is keeping secrets from her mother ... but apparently Catherine has a few secrets of her own to hide. Eventual CARA and much angst.
1. Chapter 1

**New job, new city … new story :)**

**First and foremost, this one covers a few sensitive topics about teenagers and their trials and tribulations. It will be quite heavily focused on Lindsey Willows, although there is a Cath/Sara subplot as well :)**

**Second, I apologise for the obscenely large amount of 'teenage-speak' in this story. I have had to watch untold amounts of teen movies and TV shows in an attempt to get this something like accurate. Some of the dialogue between the teens is taken from these, which I do not own. **

**The main idea for this story is rooted in the movie 'Cyberbully', which Kay Panabaker (Lindsey Willows) was also in. I am using 'Friend Agenda' as the social network site because it had been mentioned on CSI, but I'm basing it on Facebook, simply because it's the only one I have and therefore the only one I know how to use. **

**This is just the first chapter, so who all the characters are will become more apparent as we go on.**

**Well, that's my explanation done, so on with the story :)  
**

**Disclaimer: I do not own CSI, it's characters or the characters or dialogue from Cyberbully or any other film used in this story. I short, I don't own anything. **

**x x x x**

"What's the definition of 'cerebral'?"

"Me." Lindsey answered easily, never ceasing the examination of her newly painted nails. "Definition of lazy: you. Do your own homework."

Ruby brushed the comment off easily with a sassy retort, turning instead to the other girl in their clan.

"Sam you're a genius, you should know."

Samantha, however, was not paying attention; her gaze fixed across the hall onto the back of a well-toned boy by the name of Scott Bailey.

The other girls turned to follow her line of sight and Ruby's lips spread into a knowing smirk.

"Ah, the definition of lust." Lindsey drawled, leaning into her best friend's shoulder.

"Urgh, whenever I see him my throat swells up." Sam confessed, slumping against her locker door.

"You do know that Scott is just a dumb jock, right?" Lindsey huffed, turning her back on the budding footballer under the guise of looking for a text book.

"No he's not." Sam retorted defensively, a sullen frown marring her pretty features.

"Of course he is, he's just like all the others."

Deciding to break up the spat before it could get started, Ruby bounded between them and slung an arm around Sam's shoulder.

"You know, if you were on Friend Agenda you could send him a request and see if he answers it."

"Oh that's _so_ sixth grade." She mocked, slamming her locker shut and sloping down the hall with her friends in tow. "Besides, even if I wanted to I couldn't. My mom, like, hovers over my shoulder all the time. I'm not allowed to use the laptop in my room, it has to stay in the 'family room'. There's no way." The blonde slumped her shoulders and flicked her long tresses over her shoulder. "I'm running late, I'll see you guys later."

Waving her off with a small chuckle at her misfortune, Lindsey hooked an arm through Ruby's as they threaded their way towards their own class against the shrill sound of the bell.

"Her mom is so backwards. She can't even have internet on her phone."

Ruby threw her head back in unsympathetic laughter, her long brunette hair trailing down her back.

"Uh, my God." The girl groaned dramatically. "I thought my parents were strict.

X x x

"Come on mom," Lindsey droned pitifully. "It's just the mall. All the other kids are going."

"Yeah, but no parents." Catherine pointed out for the third time, stooping down to extract another load of dripping plates from the dishwasher. "You're too young to go to the mall unsupervised."

She didn't even need to turn around to know what look she was getting from her daughter right now. It was a look she was accustomed to receiving lately.

"I'm fifteen - nearly sixteen! Kids younger than me are having kids!"

Catherine cast a disparaging look over her shoulder at the off-hand remark.

"Which is precisely why you're not going."

"Mom! I don't know how you can be so un-cool."

"Years of practice," came the dry response as Cath straightened up and stretched until her back clicked. It had been doing that more and more lately – just another painful reminder that she was getting older every day.

However, the biggest reminder of her slipping youth was still lurking behind her, emitting the kind of irate noise that only a teenager can create. The kind of huff she herself used to make when _she_ was fifteen.

"Uh, I hate living here!" Lindsey snarled, stomping her feet on her way out of the room. Cath paused, listening to the familiar trek of heavy footfalls upstairs and across the landing before the final slamming of a bedroom door brought the argument to a definitive close.

"Yeah, well I'd take an island in Fiji over this right now as well." She muttered to herself, resuming the task of cleaning the kitchen in peace.

Thankfully, she had to go into work early tonight, which meant that she wouldn't be the one listening to Lindsey's sullen silence all evening. That joy would fall to her mother.

Casting a glance at the clock, she decided that she had just enough time for a quick shower before Lily arrived.

Her muscles still ached from her previous shift and the jet of hot water against her skin was doing nothing to sooth the pain.

She rolled her neck back, letting the stream of soapy droplets spill down her chest.

She hadn't been feeling herself lately, although she couldn't quite put her finger on what was bothering her. It felt like everything was a hassle, a struggle; even the simplest of tasks had become a chore.

She had endured periods in her life like this before – who hadn't? Usually she just had to picture her little girl's face and it snapped her out of it, but lately it seemed like Lindsey was part of the problem. Catherine loved her, of course; but she had become such a trial lately; pushing every boundary to the limit.

She had been the same, naturally, when she was that age. But then she had been angry with the world at that age.

These thoughts continued to plague her every day, but ultimately she kept coming back to the same question.

What was her child so angry about?

X x x

Unfortunately, though she had no idea how, a quick shower turned into a long shower and she found herself dashing down the stairs with her shoes in one hand and phone in the other. Grissom would have a fit if she was late once more this week.

She barely managed to garble something at her mother on her way out of the door, but she wasn't sure how much of it made sense.

It did cross her mind briefly on the drive to work that she should have warned her about Lindsey's bad mood, but she brushed the thought away as quickly as it arrived.

Surely, Lily would be used to it by now anyway.

X x x

Lindsey waited until she heard her mother's hurried departure from the house before creeping out of her room and down the stairs.

"Hi Grandma." She greeted sweetly, leaning over the back of the couch to peck the woman's cheek.

"Hello baby." Lily smiled up at her, putting the magazine she was reading to one side. "Did you want something?"

Lindsey took a deep breath, putting on the most innocent smile she could muster.

"Well, I was wondering whether you could drive me to the mall? Some of my friends are going to pick out Prom dresses and I wanted to go with them."

The sentence came out rushed, not quite as smooth as she had hoped. Lily glanced at the time with narrowed eyes – a bad sign for sure.

"It's quite late." She noted. Lindsey held her breath, waiting for the question that she knew was coming. "What did your mother say?"

"She was in kind of a hurry before she left, I never got chance to ask her." She paused, casting her eyes sadly towards the floor. "I'd call, but I know she doesn't like being interrupted at work."

The pre-prepared answer had the desired effect. That trademark family look of disapproval.

Lindsey knew that her grandmother hated her mother's obsession with work, to the point where it formed the perfect diversion. If she passed the blame onto her mom, she could get pretty much anything she wanted. Occasionally throwing in the puppy-dog eyes didn't hurt either.

Lily hoisted herself off the couch and grabbed her car keys.

"Come on, I'll drop you off."

X x x

"What about this one?" Ruby asked, holding a sparkly number littered in sequins against her body in a mock-model pose.

"Ew, no way." The other two laughed brightly.

Technically, she hadn't been lying. They were going to look at Prom dresses, as well as dresses for Samantha's sweet sixteen; if she ever decided what she was doing for it.

"We should do what you did for your eleventh birthday." Lindsey suggested, only half-joking.

"We just got our nails done." Sam pointed out, scrunching her nose up. "And the smell was so bad it made everyone sick, remember? Julie Brieserman nearly threw up."

Suddenly dragging to memory a piece of gossip she had read recently; and glad of an opportunity to change the subject after her birthday party idea had been shot down, Lindsey's eyes lit up.

"Did you hear that Julie's pregnant?" She asked excitedly.

"No way!" Samantha blinked. "How would _you_ know that? She moved to California."

"Friend Agenda, hello." Ruby rolled her eyes, drawing a similar reaction from Samantha.

"Right, of course." The girl exhaled.

"I still can't believe that your mom won't let you have it." Lindsey continued. "Even _my_ mom lets me use it, and she doesn't let me do anything cool."

"Yeah, but your mom's a cop." Sam teased. "She's probably got your account bugged."

"She's not a cop." Linds scowled, having long since gotten fed up with having to explain the difference between cops and CSIs. "And anyway, my mom's totally oblivious when it comes to technology. She hasn't got a clue."

"Yeah right, unlike Samantha's mom who won't even let her use the laptop in her room."

"Shut up." Sam laughed softly, punching Ruby lightly in the arm.

The playful fighting was cut short by Sam's attention disappearing to the other side of the mall.

As with earlier, there was only one reason for her zoning out of the conversation and that reason was Scott Bailey.

However, this time he wasn't alone. Tommy was with him, along with _his_ overly-clingy, mini-skirt clad girlfriend. Ally looked up and caught Samantha's eye before she could turn away. With a feral smile, she grabbed Tommy and locked her lips on to his. He seemed somewhat surprised by the move, given that he had been mid-conversation with Scott, but responded by instantly snaking his hands towards Ally's waistline.

"Uh, get a room." Ruby spat, turning away from the public display. "And doesn't she knew you're only meant to show your boobs or your legs, not both."

"She still hates me after what I said in health class the other day." Sam acknowledged glumly. "It wasn't even directed at her ... not directly."

Lindsey frowned, flicking her narrowed eyes between Sam and Ally. She didn't like the blonde any more than her best friend did, and she certainly didn't like the company she kept. But that wasn't her only reason for wanted to get away from them.

"Come on." She said at last, tugging her friend's arm. "Ignore her; she's such a slut anyway."

"Yeah, a total whore." Ruby joined in gleefully.

Samantha smiled gratefully, allowing her friends to drag her away. They were right – as much as she disliked some of her classmates, they weren't worth getting worked up over.

Still, she couldn't help but cast a glance over her shoulder at the three of them, still lingering on the other side of the mall.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hi guys, thanks for all the interest in the story so far. It might take a few chapters to pick up pace, but I hope you'll stick with it :)**

**x x x x**

"Hey Cath." Nick greeted cheerfully, automatically reaching for another mug to pour the newly arrived strawberry-blonde some coffee as he made his own.

She accepted the offering absent-mindedly, too busy frowning at her cell phone to register who was talking to her.

"Hey, you alright?" The Texan called when she didn't respond to him.

"Huh?" She blinked, glancing up sharply. "Sorry, I'm trying to change my settings back. Lindsey changed all my ringtones."

Sara and Warrick snickered at her disgruntled tone. They were sprawled lazily together across the sofa, basking in the early evening sun that was streaming into the break room; until Nick dropped inelegantly between them and threw his arms around them both.

"Let me guess:" Sara pursed her lips, readjusting herself against his shoulder. "Taylor Swift?"

"Katy Perry." Cath huffed, finally giving up and snapping the device closed.

"Oh, well at least her taste in music's improving since I last saw her." The brunette noted with an amused smirk. "Sort of."

At Grissom's timely entrance, Cath stuffed the phone back into her pocket and the three younger CSIs rose simultaneously to their feet to receive their assignments for the night.

"Okay, I've got two dead bodies and a B&E." The boss began, holding up the slips like raffle prizes. He took a minute to scrutinise the hopeful faces staring back at him before making a decision. "Catherine, Sara…you two can take the 419 in Hender…"

Before he could complete the sentence, he was cut off by a burst of muted music.

_I kissed a girl and I liked it  
The taste of her cherry chapstick  
I kissed a girl just to try it_

Usually in this situation it was Greg who jumped for his phone, but on this occasion he was surprised to see Catherine fumbling helplessly for the trilling device while the others erupted in giggles at the song choice.

"Is Lindsey trying to tell you something?" Warrick joked, nudging Nick in the ribs. Catherine's only response to the taunt was a withering look before she turned her attention back to Grissom; managing to appear surprisingly unruffled by the interruption.

"You were saying?"

He blinked, visibly perplexed. Finally he snapped out of it and glanced back down at the slip he was still extending towards them.

"Henderson." He finished bluntly at last. "Although maybe I shouldn't be sending you with Sara."

Cath rolled her eyes, snatching the case from him and beckoning for the other woman to follow her.

"Sure you don't want some cherry chapstick first?" Nick hollered at the departing brunette's back, receiving a playful smirk from her and a distinctly dissatisfied glower from Gil.

"Nick," he continued calmly, a small smile trying to fight its way onto his lips despite his stoic stance. "B&E. Enjoy."

X x x

"Why don't you just ask him to the Prom already?" Ruby exhaled exasperatedly, kicking off her shoes without bothering to untie the laces first.

"I can't!" Sam exclaimed. "That's just … weird."

"No it's not." Lindsey challenged, peeling off her sports shirt and hurriedly replacing it with her t-shirt. She hated changing after gym - too many people around casting judgement over her body for her liking. "Girls ask guys out all the time."

"Yeah, girls like you." Samantha teased, earning her a playful slap. "I, on the other hand, am a lady."

"A lady?" Ruby scoffed. "Is that code for a _virgin_?"

Sam's jaw dropped in mock shock and she pretended to kick out a sneakered foot towards her friend. Fortunately for Lindsey, their little spat meant they missed the guilty look creeping onto her face.

"No, it's code for _never been kissed_." She added, fully intending to keep the heat on Sam and off herself.

"I've been kissed!" The girl insisted defensively. "Sort of … it was on the lips."

"With tongue?" Ruby drawled, her tone indicating that she already knew the answer and was not afraid of extending her merciless mockery of the naïve blonde.

Indeed, when Sam responded to the remark with pursed lips and an awkward shrug the other two girls spilled into a bout of jovial laughter.

X x x

"Hey, there you are." Cath swept into the darkened lab, her long golden waves spilling over her shoulders. "I've been looking everywhere for you."

"Have you?" Sara asked unenthusiastically, her gaze remaining glued to the large interactive screen on the wall.

"Have you got anything?" The older woman continued, leaning over the back of her chair. When she had last seen the girl, she was going to check the traffic cameras in the area of their dead body; and evidently she had come up blank with that since she was now busy trying to identify tread patterns.

Sara exhaled loudly, causing a stray strand of dark hair to blow away from her face.

"Shall I take that as a no?" Cat bit back a smile as she slipped into the chair next to Sara and took over control of the mouse.

Glad of the reprieve, Sara sat back and scrutinised her colleague. She had been in a foul mood all shift, but appeared to have calmed down considerably since they were last together. Perhaps enough to risk a personal conversation with her?

"So, have you fixed your phone yet?"

"Huh?"

"Your ringtones?" Sara elaborated. "You said Lindsey had monopolised them."

"Oh, yeah." Cath grunted in acknowledgement. "No, I haven't fixed it. I don't know what she's done."

"She seems to have developed quite the sense of humour." Sara continued, suppressing a grin. "'I kissed a girl'?"

Catherine laughed; the first time she had done all night. In fact, Sara realised, all week.

"Yeah, she's a real comedian." The supervisor drawled sardonically.

X x x

"So, what do you think your mom's getting you for your birthday?" Lindsey asked around a mouthful of cheese burger.

"I don't know." Sam breathed. "It won't be a laptop, that's for sure. Maybe a set of encyclopaedias or a telescope knowing my mom."

"Hey, telescopes are fun!" Ruby defended.

"You," Lindsey enquired disbelievingly, "like astronomy?"

"No." The dark-haired girl snorted. "But my brother has one and it's great for spying on next-door's swimming pool."

"Why would you want to spy on your neighbour's pool?" Sam frowned, not following.

"Not the pool, Dunce." Linds laughed brightly. "She uses it to spy on the neighbour _in_ the pool."

Samantha scrunched her nose, shaking her head and causing her blonde tresses to bounce off her shoulders.

"Ew, pervert!"

"What?" Ruby shrugged, unabashed, as she popped another stolen fry between her scarlett-red lips. "He's hot."


	3. Chapter 3

"I cannot believe it." Ruby gasped. "I actually cannot believe that your mom caved."

"I know." Sam all but squealed, clutching her brand new computer to her chest protectively. "And it's all mine! I don't even have to share it with Tyler!"

"This is so awesome." Lindsey agreed gleefully, hurling herself onto her friend's bed and settling comfortably against the headboard. "And you know the first thing we have to do?"

"Set a password so my little brother can't hack into it?"

"Well, yeah." Lindsey frowned, shaking her head. "But, no. I was talking about _Friend Agenda_."

"Yes!" Ruby exclaimed jubilantly, launching herself onto the foot of the bed to join them and landing expertly in the lotus position.

"Noo." Sam drawled. "No, I couldn't. My mom would kill me."

"Come on," Ruby took the computer from her and tapped the website into the search-bar, hitting enter. "It's perfectly safe." Turning the screen back around to face its owner, she began swaying it temptingly in front of Sam's face. "You know you want to…" she sing-songed.

"Hmm…" Sam pulled a face, trying so hard not to give into the smirk trying to fight its way onto her lips. But it was far too late for that.

Her friends had already won; and they knew it.

X x x

"Hi!" Cath hollered tiredly, tossing her keys in the general direction of the coffee table and missing by about a foot. She stared at them for a few seconds before deciding that she didn't care right now and electing to leave them on the floor.

"Catherine?" Lily called, poking her head out of the kitchen. There was a streak of flour across her left cheek, suggesting she had been into the baking cupboard again. It was a new hobby, apparently. "Oh good, you're home."

"Hi mom." Cath breathed, dropping heavily onto the couch and dragging an exhausted hand through her shoulder-length hair. "Is Lindsey upstairs?"

"No. She's at Samantha's house." Lily answered, planting her food-stained hands on her hips. "You're home late. You should have been back hours ago."

"Yeah, I know. We got caught up at work." She didn't even bother attempting to explain the importance of what she had been doing all day – she knew it wouldn't make the slightest bit of difference anyway.

"Lindsey wanted to talk to you." Lily continued to rub salt in the wound, her steely gaze never twitching. "She needed your help with some homework."

"Alright, I'll help her when she comes home." Catherine shrugged, rocking to her feet before she could get comfortable in her seat. If she sat down for too long, she wouldn't get back up again.

However, she barely made it two paces before her mother delivered the final twist of the knife.

"Don't bother." She sighed, in that harrowing, disappointed tone. "I'm sure Samantha's mom will have found the time to help her."

Catherine paused at the bottom of the stairs, throwing her head back in exasperation.

"Mom, please…" she begged tiredly. "I can't do this now. I'm going for a shower."

X x x

"What!" Sam barked indignantly. "I can't answer that!"

"Sure you can," Lindsey shrugged. "Just say black – everyone say's black."

"I said pink." Ruby chipped in with a devilish grin.

"Why do they need to know what colour my underwear is?"

"It's just for fun." Lindsey rolled her eyes. "Don't be such a prude."

"Fine." Sam huffed. "I'll put black." She scanned down to the next question and her eyes bugged out for the second time. "Most embarrassing kiss?"

"That one you might have to make up." Linds teased, earning her a playful smack in the face with a pillow – an act which rapidly descended into a three-way pillow fight.

Their childish squeals were ultimately broken by the distinctive sound of someone clearing their throat, and they looked up to find Samantha's mom lurking in the doorway with a mock-stern expression.

"Girls." She called, the smile tugging at her mouth belaying the fact that she was joking.

"Hi mom." Sam laughed, getting her breath back.

"Dinner's nearly ready." The woman said, explaining her reason for interrupting the good time. "Time to go, girls."

"Okay Mrs Hillridge." Lindsey agreed sweetly, waiting until the parent had disappeared and securely closed the door before kicking a playful leg out towards Ruby. "Come on brat, you can walk me home."

X x x

Lindsey pushed the front door open a crack and cocked her head to the side, listening for any signs of movement.

Hearing nothing, she crept in and slipped her shoes off in the doorway. Shuffling into the living room, she found one of the people she was looking for.

Not uncommonly, her grandmother had fallen asleep on the couch; one arm tucked beneath her head and the other hanging limply of the edge with an open book tented on her chest.

With a sad sigh, Lindsey dragged the blanket down from the back of the sofa and draped it across her prone body. She was about to head upstairs when she spotted a set of keys in the middle of the floor.

Her mother's keys, no less. Bizarre, sure, but it meant her mom was home.

She picked them up and returned them to their usual home on the edge of the coffee table, before dashing upstairs two at a time.

She reached the closed bedroom door in time to hear her mother's hairdryer switch off. With a small smile, she nudged the door open and peered inside.

"Hey mom."

"Oh, hi." Cath cast a quick glance over her shoulder. She was simultaneously buttoning up her blouse and applying some last-minute make-up – two things that did not make her child's heart sing with joy. "Listen honey, I have to …"

"You're going back to work." Lindsey finished for her, her smile replaced by a sulky pout. For a moment, she acknowledged, her mom actually managed to look abashed at the comment; but that didn't take the sting away.

"Yeah. I'm sorry." She sighed. "Look, grandma will make you some dinner, and I'll help you with your homework project tomorrow night, okay?"

"Sure, fine." The girl shrugged, dragging her toe across the carpet in a decidedly pitiful stance.

Catherine could tell that she wasn't happy, but she didn't have time to dwell on her guilt right now. Leaning forwards, she pressed a kiss to Lindsey's forehead.

"Okay, I'll see you in the morning."

"Okay." Lindsey agreed, even though the both knew that it was probably a lie. The cold fact was, they hadn't shared breakfast in over a week.

From her position at the top of the stairs, she heard Catherine shout something towards her grandma before tracking hurried footsteps to the front door.

Sloping back to her room, she shut the door and allowed herself to fall backwards onto the bed.

The house was too quiet. It was always too quiet.

X x x

"Hey, you aright?" Sara asked, snapping Catherine back from her thoughts.

"Sorry?" She blinked, turning her attention briefly towards the brunette, who was frowning at her.

"You looked like you'd zoned out." Sara noted, concern creeping into her voice despite every attempt to remain neutral. She knew from painful experience that Catherine Willows was not a woman who took kindly to being fussed over.

It was actually one of her less endearing traits; although Sara knew she was hardly in a position to throw stones herself.

"I'm fine." Cath rolled her shoulders, re-focussing her attention on the road ahead.

"Okay." Sara pursed her lips, quietly waiting for what she knew was coming next.

"I'm neglecting Lindsey." The blonde sighed after a few minutes. "She looked so miserable when I had to come out tonight."

"Kids are pretty resilient." Sara shrugged, turning her gaze towards the window to avoid any chance of catching her colleague's eye. "She'll be okay."

"Yeah, well." Cath exhaled, not quite believing the assurance. "I hope so."

X x x

Her laptop pinged across the room and she was there in a heartbeat, opening her Friend Agenda page and clicking on the latest update.

"Aw." She smiled as a picture of herself and Samantha appeared on the screen. It had been taken a few days ago on Sam's phone, in the school cafeteria.

Scrolling down, she saw a familiar name pop up in the comments list and rolled her eyes.

"Oh ha ha." She muttered.

Her blue eyes flashed to her phone and she snatched it up, finding Sam's name in a matter of seconds and waiting for her best friend's voice to come on the line.

"Hey, guess who's commented on our photo?"

"_Let me guess?"_ Sam asked sarcastically, and Lindsey could hear her tapping at the keys on her end of the conversation. _"Oh look, Ally 'I've slept with more guys than Perez Hilton' Barone."_

"Which one do you suppose I am?" Lindsey joked. "Lardass or Dogface?"

"_Hmm, I don't know. She _really_ needs to be more specific in her insults."_

"I guess I'll be dogface."

"_What if I want to be dogface?"_

"Okay, then I'll be Lardass." Lindsey laughed brightly, unconsciously glimpsing her reflection in the full-body mirror on her wardrobe door. "I could probably stand to lose a few pounds anyway."

"_A few?"_ Sam scoffed light-heartedly.

"Oh, bitch." Lindsey retorted, before they spilled into giggles as they both fell backwards onto their beds.

Though neither could see it, they managed to mimic each other's position, propping their feet up against the wall and slinging one arm lazily across the bed.


	4. Chapter 4

**Hope you guys are enjoying this story so far! It might take a while to get into the angst, but we're getting there. **

**If you have any suggestions for what you'd like to see in the story, I'm open to new ideas **

**x x x x**

"It has been confirmed, I am officially Lardass." Lindsey declared, looping her arm through Samantha's as they ambled up the concrete steps.

"Oh, I guess that makes me Dogface." Sam laughed, unconcerned by the insult.

"Hey look, there's Ally." Ruby pointed out, nodding across the yard. "Maybe you should go over there and bark at her to see what she does."

They turned their attention to the girl, currently hanging off Tommy like drapes off a curtain pole, and wrinkled their noses in disgust at her blatant gyrating against the footballer.

As they muttered their disapproval, an unexpected voice infiltrated their little group.

Sam spun around, her eyes wide with shock, and squeaked a shy greeting in return. Scott's lips turned into a half smile that made her stomach flip and she unconsciously gripped Lindsey's arm tighter.

"I saw you running track the other day." The boy noted, clearly uneasy at having all three girls eyeing him back. "You were pretty good. You should run for the team."

"Really?" She practically gasped. "Yeah, I'll … I'll think about it."

"Sports freak." Ruby muttered teasingly, earning her a painful nudge in the ribs from the blonde girl and an odd look from Scott.

"Anyway," he shifted his weight from one foot to the other uncomfortably. "Maybe I'll catch you later."

As he ambled away, Sam practically melted into Lindsey's side.

"Did that seriously just happen?" She asked, dazed. "Did he actually just _compliment_ me?"

"He's sweet-talking you." Lindsey scoffed, shrugging her mate off. "He's a player, I told you."

"Well, player or not." Ruby cut in, her gaze fixed across the school yard. "He wasn't subtle; and someone else was watching."

Sure enough, Ally was scowling at them from afar; her cold stare piercing their group even from this distance.

"Let's go." Lindsey tugged them away. "I'm getting frostbite."

X x x

"It's not love." Lindsey snorted, nearly choking on her lunch.

"How do you know that?" Sam queried, propping her head up on the table and fixing her with an accusatory look.

"You've had one conversation with him." Lindsey pointed out, barely biting back a harsh laugh. "That is not love. It's not even friendship."

"Aw, don't ruin her fantasies." Ruby frowned, playing devil's advocate between the bickering friends. "It makes her happy."

"Come on, you can't seriously think she's actually in love with him?"

"Maybe." The olive-skinned girl shrugged, refusing to pick sides. She had always hated it when they put her in the middle, and as a result she spent most of her time sitting on the metaphorical fence.

"It's not love!" Lindsey repeated, her stubborn streak rearing its ugly head. "He's just like all other guys. He'll take what he wants and leave you cold."

"No, Scott's not like that."

"They're _all_ like that, Sam." She sighed, her patience clearly waning fast. "You're just too naïve to see it."

"Hey, don't take it out on me;" Samantha insisted defensively. "Just because you got dumped by Charlie doesn't mean the same thing will happen to me."

As soon as the words left her lips, she knew that they were a mistake. And sure enough, Lindsey's blue eyes flashed with hurt.

However, to her friends' surprise, the fiery teenager didn't lash out. Instead, with unsettling composure, she pushed her lunch tray away and stood up.

"You're gonna get hurt Sam." She said calmly, her steady voice disguising the sadness behind her words. "Don't say I didn't warn you."

X x x

"I'm home." She hollered, letting the front door slam shut behind her. "Mom?"

Catherine wandered out of the kitchen at the ungainly entrance, drying her hands on a towel, and smiled brightly at her daughter.

"Hi honey." She greeted cheerfully. "How was school?"

"Fine." Lindsey answered noncommittally, tossing her bag at the floor and moving instantly towards the stairs.

Catherine's positive demeanour quickly snapped to firm parental as she pointed at the bag.

"Um, aren't you going to put that away?"

"Later." Came the bad-tempered response as the child stropped upstairs and allowed her bedroom door to swing shut with an equally loud bang as the front door had.

Catherine rolled her eyes, slinging the tea-towel over her shoulder and folding her arms across her chest.

They'd managed ten whole seconds of civilised conversation at least. That was an improvement at least.

X x x

Upstairs, Lindsey fell into her natural routine.

Jacket slung across the ever-unused desk chair, a quick glance into her mirror and promptly settled on her bed with her laptop in hand.

Ordinarily, this would be followed by either a lengthy phone call or text message conversation with Sam. Today, it was Sam's turn to call her.

But she had a disheartening feeling that her phone wasn't going to ring tonight – a feeling that grew with each depressingly long moment of silence that followed.

X x x

"_Have you spoken to Lindsey since lunch?"_ Ruby asked. Sam could hear her chewing idly on a piece of raw carrot as she spoke. It wouldn't be too long until dinner, but the girl notoriously couldn't go more than a few hours between meals; and she hadn't exactly felt liking eating much at lunchtime.

"No." She moped, doodling patterns on the front of her notebook with her free hand. "Have you?"

"_No, I never saw her again today_." Ruby fell quiet for a second; clearly debating whether now would be a good time to offer some words of comfort – not her forte, admittedly. _"I'm sure she'll come around."_

"Yeah, she's just in a mood." Sam agreed, although she was not as certain of the assurance as the other girl. "She'll get over it."

The conversation was interrupted by a muted argument on the other end of the line and Sam instantly recognised the shrill voice of Ruby's little sister. Close in age, they had been forced to share a room together since Gracie was born, and the result was the fiercest of love-hate relationships known to man.

"_Sorry._" Ruby breathed hurriedly, quickly falling back into the topic of discussion. "_Anyway, I don't even know what the big deal was. You only said what everyone else already knows anyway_."

"Exactly." Sam hummed. "I mean, just because Charlie was a jerk to her, doesn't mean that Scott will be to me." She paused. "Right?"

X x x

With a groan of resignation, Cath stooped down and extracted Lindsey's gym kit from the depths of the school bag.

Along with it, three pens and a ball of crumpled paper tumbled out and rolled towards her feet.

"Oh, Lindsey." She huffed, snatching the document up and unfurling it. She expected it to be a misplaced homework assignment or maybe a set of discarded class notes long since forgotten.

She did not, however, expect to see her own name embossed across the top of the Butterfield Academy-Headed letter.

X x x

Lindsey continued to stare at the screen, her fingers poised above the keys in readiness.

Sam had been wrong. There were no two ways about that – she had no idea what she was talking about when it came to guys.

Not that that made her observation about Charlie sting any less.

It was the reason, however, for what Lindsey was doing now. After all, if Samantha wouldn't listen to the voice of reason, maybe she could get her point across another way. Even if it was decidedly underhand and sneaky.

With a conflicted sigh, she cast her eyes over the details of the new profile she had made.

Dark hair, hazel eyes, athletic body; interested in cars. An environmentalist; and vegetarian to boot.

What girl could resist that?

Letting her eyes drift closed, as if being sightless might make what she was doing somehow easier, she hit enter.

"James Robinson." She exhaled. "Welcome to Friend Agenda."


	5. Chapter 5

**Hope you're all liking this story :) I'd love to hear your thoughts so far **

**x x x x**

"I can't believe that they're actually teaching it in schools now." Nick scowled, scrunching his nose up in disgust. "What happened to the awkward conversation with your dad over a root beer?"

Warrick chuckled at his straitlaced mate's obvious discomfort with the subject matter.

"Well, either way it doesn't seem to be working." The dark-skinned CSI mused. "I mean, look at how many kids are getting knocked up these days."

"Not helping, Warrick." Cath moped, continuing to sulk miserably over her letter at the centre bench in the break room.

"I guess it's good that they're informing the parents about it." Nick added, cocking his head to the side in thought. "But still, I think sex is something that should be talked about at home, you know?"

"I just don't know why she hid it from me." Catherine frowned, shaking her head in bemusement. "I know it's not the easiest thing in the world to go to your parents about; but I've always been honest with her about stuff like this. She knows that she can talk to me about anything." She paused, well aware that she was ranting more to herself than to her team, and glanced up. "Doesn't she?"

"Hey, she's your kid." Nick pointed out with a small chuckle. "But if I'd been given a letter like that at fifteen, no way would I have wanted my mom to see it."

"Hmm." Cath pouted, propping her head up on the table sadly. "I don't know. I still think there's something she's hiding."

"You know what," Warrick patted her on the shoulder, lightening his voice in an attempt to appease the woman. "She probably just forgot about it. I used to do it all the time – cram things in my bag and not see them again for days. My grandmother used to go through my bag once a week for anything important like that."

"Yeah, Warrick's probably right." Nick added. "Lindsey probably never even thought about it again after she was given it."

Taking a cue from the sceptical look they were receiving, the boys decided to leave her to brood in peace and sloped out in search of their ever-tardy supervisor.

Catherine, assuming she was alone, emitted a frustrated sigh and hopped off her stool to pour herself a drink before shift officially started.

To her surprise, Sara was still sitting quietly on the couch with her gaze firmly averted. To be honest, she had forgotten all about the brunette.

Glancing at the letter again, Cath pursed her lips.

"What do you think?" She asked casually; secretly glad of the opportunity to get the other woman's opinion while they were alone. "Do you think I'm over-reacting?"

"I think that's a question you should be asking your daughter." Sara answered easily, never lifting her gaze from the magazine she had been pretending to read throughout the duration of this conversation.

"Well, that's easier said than done." Cath breathed, moving to join her on the couch and stretching one arm lazily across the back of it. "What about you? Did you have sex-education lessons at school or were you of the 'birds and bees' generation?"

To her bemusement, a dark laugh escaped Sara's lips.

"Oh, trust me Cat; you don't want Lindsey learning anything the way I did."

The tone in her voice warned Catherine not to ask for elaboration, but nevertheless it did stir up a few questions in the older woman's mind.

However, before she could posit any of them aloud, the boys returned with a beleaguered Grissom in tow; and Catherine filed her queries away for further investigation at a later time.

X x x

She could feel their eyes on her from across the dining hall, burning into her skin, but she daren't look up.

She had done a sterling job of avoiding them so far this morning, but now there was very little escape from them.

If only it had been Wednesday. If it was Wednesday, she would have had cheerleading practice and wouldn't have had time for lunch. But it was Tuesday, which meant she was confined to the cafeteria until she'd suitably finished picking over her lunch.

The truth was she didn't have much of an appetite today.

Risking a glance up, she was pleasantly surprised to see that they had vanished from her line of sight; and she was about to breathe a sigh of relief when a timid voice piped up behind her.

"Hi, Lindsey."

She jumped in her seat, her mouth falling open in shock.

"Hi .. guys." She stuttered ineloquently. Ruby and Samantha shuffled awkwardly beside the table, sharing sideways looks with each other.

"Are you okay?" Sam managed to say at last. "I didn't see you this morning."

"I'm okay." She shrugged, fiddling with the fork in her hand. "I wasn't sure you'd want to see me."

Sam's gaze softened and she sank into the chair beside her best friend.

"Of course I want to see you." She gushed. "Yesterday was just …"

"Stupid." They chimed together, before sharing a quiet giggle.

Ruby, silent until now, flicked her eyes between them and decided that it was safe to sit down. Without missing a beat, she reached across to steal a cold french fry from Lindsey's tray and quickly changed the subject.

"So, what did Mr Putnam say about your math test?"

"Oh, the usual." Lindsey laughed softly, her eyes automatically seeking out Sam's face again. "So, what's new with you two?"

"Nothing much." The blonde shrugged, relaxing a bit now that they had essentially brushed their fight under the rug. "Oh, you'll never guess what happened to me on Friend Agenda last night!"

X x x

The slamming of the front door snapped her back to reality and Catherine's ears pricked up.

"Lindsey!" She called, pushing thoughts of Sara aside and abandoning her coffee – which had long-since gone cold – on the table; she darted to her feet before her daughter could disappear upstairs.

Sure enough, the girl already had one hand on the banister when Catherine emerged from the kitchen.

"What?" She enquired bluntly.

"Come here." Cath said lightly, gesturing to the living room. "I need to talk to you for a minute."

Lindsey visibly stiffened her shoulders, picking up on the telltale hitch in her mother's voice. It was clear that Catherine was trying to keep her tone neutral but Lindsey knew the signs all too well.

"What's wrong?" She asked, her gut twisting at the thought that her mom might have already found out what she'd done.

Surely her friends couldn't have been right? Surely to God, her mother didn't keep tabs on her laptop?

Without answering, Catherine sat down on the couch and gestured for Lindsey to do the same; which she did, tentatively.

"Am I in trouble?" She asked, putting on her most innocent face in the vain hope it might still hold some power.

To her relief, Catherine actually looked surprised by the question.

"No." She blinked. "No honey, you're not in trouble." The CSI cleared her throat, producing a piece of paper from the side-table behind her. "I just wanted to talk to you about this."

She placed the letter in her daughter's hands and waited for its relevance to register.

"I found it in your school bag yesterday." She explained when Lindsey didn't say anything.

"You went through my things?" The teenager asked, anger seeping into her voice at this unconcealed invasion of her privacy. This was almost as bad as keeping tabs on her laptop.

"No, I …" Cath paused, refusing to let herself get dragged off topic this time. "Look, I just wanted to let you know that if there's ever anything you want to talk about, you can come to me."

Lindsey recoiled at the thought, pulling a face not dissimilar to the one Nick had made earlier.

"Mom," she practically snarled through gritted teeth. "I don't _need_ to talk about it."

"Alright." Cath bit back a smile, not wanting to push the issue right now. After all, she had caught Lindsey a little off guard with this – it would be too much to expect her to just come out with questions on the spot. "Just remember that if there is ever anything, I'm here. Alright?"

To her surprise, Lindsey stood up quite abruptly and, scrunching the letter into a ball, hurled it at the floor.

"Why can't you just stay out of my things?"

Stunned, Catherine couldn't reign in her shock fast enough to form a response before the child had already made it half way up the stairs.

"Lindsey!" She hollered, finally finding her voice, but it was to little effect as the girl vanished into the depths of her bedroom once again.

"Well." Cath sighed to herself, her eyes falling naturally onto the crumpled letter. "That went well."


	6. Chapter 6

She felt her cheeks flushing, her breath coming in short gasps.

She had completely forgotten about that letter. She'd stuffed it in her bag as soon as they'd left the classroom, fully intending to destroy it before leaving school. She had certainly never intended for her mom to see it.

Her mom would know. She must know now, for sure.

She had given herself away with her little temper tantrum.

Why couldn't she just stay calm, dammit? Why did she have to always lose her cool?

X x x

At the bottom of the stairs, much like her daughter was currently doing, Catherine was pacing anxiously; casting fervent glances towards the bedroom.

She wanted to go up, to confront her secretive child once and for all and get a straight answer to her burning questions.

But every time she took a step closer, she recalled her own turbulent teenage years and stopped in her tracks. Had her mother barged into her room and demanded answers, she would not have been particularly receptive.

Maybe Lindsey just needed some time to cool off. Hopefully, Catherine prayed, she would come down to talk in her own time.

X x x

Opening her laptop, she took a deep breath and tried to pretend the last few minutes hadn't happened.

However, her mother's invasion of her school bag was soon to be the last thing on her mind as she clicked onto Friend Agenda and was instantly faced with a series of posts between Samantha and Scott.

Her heart sank at the mildly flirtatious comments volleying between the two of them; further proof that Sam did not know what she was getting herself into.

Opening up the 'James' page, Lindsey took a deep breath and started typing.

_'Hey Samantha, who's that Scott guy spamming your page?'_

She paused, cocking her head to the side in thought for a moment. She could just leave it at that, but it felt like there was something missing...

_'He sounds like a real jerk.'_

Much better.

X x x

"Now I know that there's something else going on." Cath huffed miserably, scraping her boot-clad foot across the scarred tiles composing the locker room floor. "I just wish she would talk to me about it."

"I'm sure she will, in her own time." Sara answered awkwardly, closing her locker and turning to lean against it.

"How much time does she need?" Catherine asked rhetorically, throwing her hands out to the sides in a helpless manner. "She's been acting out for _months_, but she just will not talk to me."

Sara resisted the urge to release a sigh. She didn't know why Catherine had suddenly taken to confiding in her about her wayward daughter and she had just about run out of comforting comments to offer her morose colleague.

"You know, this isn't really my area…" She pointed out, visibly uncomfortable with the subject matter.

"I'm her mother; she must know that she can come to be about anything. It's like she doesn't even trust me anymore." Catherine continued, blatantly ignoring the brunette's attempts to weasel out of the conversation. She needed to talk to somebody about this and she had decided that Sara was to be that person – whether she wanted to be or not.

And though it was quite clear to look at her that Sara wanted out; the sheer sadness in Catherine's voice compelled her to stay.

"Lindsey's a smart kid, she won't do anything stupid." She offered after a brief silence fell between them.

"I hope so." Cath's gaze fell to the floor once again, her voice peculiarly soft.

Sara's shoulders dropped at the pathetic sight of her usually strong-willed friend and she took a deep breath. There was only one thing she could think of to say that might have an effect, but she hadn't really wanted to go there.

"Cat, I grew up in care." She caught sight of the blonde's head shooting up, but she kept her own eyes averted. "I have seen the worst kind of parenting you can imagine. Trust me," she finally looked up, the ghost of a smile dancing on her lips. "You are a good parent."

Cath nodded slowly, attempting to speak but utterly unable to find anything useful to say.

And by the time she found her tongue it was too late, as Sara had turned and walked back out of the room, leaving her to contemplate the poignant confession alone.

"I'm sorry." She managed to murmur, as if her sentiments might still reach Sara's ears through the echoing silence that seemed to be engulfing the lab.

X x x

The message came back almost instantly, just as she expected.

'_He is not._' Sam intoned, the defensiveness in her remark coming through on the online message. 'You sound like my best friend.'

Lindsey blinked, puzzled, before she remembered that Sam didn't know who was really behind the name she knew as James.

'_She sounds smart_.' She typed hurriedly. Obviously, she did not want to give herself away; but she wasn't going to sit back and let her own friends insult her without at least attempting to defend herself first.

'_She's intrusive_.' Samantha returned. '_She doesn't know when to back off_.'

X x x

"Hey," Catherine cleared her throat, finally alerting Sara to her presence in the doorway of the darkened lab. "You busy?"

"Yeah." Sara answered absently, not tearing her gaze from the computer screen. "Why, you need something?"

"You, when you've got a minute." She answered cryptically, coming fully into the room and resting her hands on the back of Sara's chair. "I've got a little experiment that I need your assistance with."

This time, Sara stopped what she was doing and turned to face her colleague with a bemused frown. The smirk on Catherine's face was doing nothing to appease her instinctive concern, but in the end her scientific curiosity won out.

"Okay?" She agreed tentatively, quickly locking her computer screen and rising to her feet to follow the blonde.

X x x

The words were dancing on the screen in front of her eyes, taunting her, and Lindsey felt tears beginning to form the comments.

Intrusive, thinks she knows it all, selfish …

She didn't know whether Samantha was just having a bad day and taking it out on the person closest to her; or whether she regularly gossiped about her best buddy like this. Right now, she was too angry to care.

Pushing the laptop away, she stood up and positioned herself in front of the full-length mirror.

With a shuddering sigh, she slipped her t-shirt off, removed her bra and lifted her camera phone up in front of her reflection with shaky hands.

X x x

Admittedly, Catherine could have used somebody else for this experiment; but she wanted Sara.

The scientist in her would argue that Sara was a similar height and build to her suspect and it was more empirically correct to use her rather than another member of staff. However, the truth lay much closer to her heart.

After Sara's little admission in the locker room, Catherine had been thinking about the brunette all shift. In truth, she had been thinking a lot about her recently anyway.

It was a big step for them, in that it was the first time Sara had confided such personal information in over six years of working here. Now, for reasons she cared not to dwell on, she had an undying urge to demonstrate to Sara that her new-found trust was not misplaced.

And this little reconstruction was just the way to do it.

"Okay, arms out." She instructed.

"What?"

In explanation, Catherine held up a man's shirt and Sara obligingly held out her arms for Catherine to slip it on her. It was way too big for the slender woman, but that was a good thing.

"Who's shirt is this, exactly?" Sara asked uncertainly.

"Relax, it's Warrick's." Cath smiled. "He's kindly leant it to me for research purposes."

"I see." Sara hummed in agreement, relaxing a little with the knowledge that she was not, in fact, wearing a garment removed from a corpse. "And, why am I wearing it?"

"Because you're the same size as my suspect." Catherine stated, producing a red pen from her pocket. "Now, hold still."

Sara did as asked, allowing her to draw red circles around the arms and on the back of the shirt to match with the blood spatter on a similar item of clothing currently being worn by a dummy.

As she did so, she continued to flick glances at Sara's face. "What you said earlier…" she hummed at last, keeping her voice as light as possible.

"Yeah, about that." Sara murmured, a nervous laugh escaping her lips. "I haven't told anyone else at work that…"

"It's okay." Catherine shrugged, moving around to face her and drawing more red marks on the front of the shirt, placing one hand on Sara's shoulder for support. "I wasn't going to tell anyone else. I was just curious; how long were you in care for?"

"A few years." Sara answered, suspicion evident in her voice. "Why?"

"No reason." Cath flicked her eyes up, a small smile twitching at her lips. "I was just wondering. You've never mentioned it before."

"I've never had a reason to before." Sara countered easily.

Catherine paused, nodding in acknowledgement. Deciding that Sara was on the verge of clamming up if she pressed any further, she capped the pen and placed her hands on her hips; satisfied with her work.

"Okay, roll up the sleeves."

Sara did so, until they reached the red line Catherine had drawn. The strawberry-blonde nodded approvingly at this, before moving closer and tugging the shirt closed at the front. There was a clear line where the blood crossed over, suggesting it had been fastened or held together while the wearer stabbed her victim to death.

Sara took a deep breath, hoping that Catherine wouldn't notice her discomfort at being in such close proximity right now.

If she did, then she didn't say anything, continuing to frown at the blood pattern for what felt like an age before releasing Sara with a bright smile and a nod.

"Thank you. You've been very helpful."


	7. Chapter 7

"Yeah?" She grunted, not even bothering to look up from her seemingly never-ending stack of paperwork.

Nick's bashful face appeared around the doorframe, tentatively followed by the rest of him.

"Hey, Catherine?" He cleared his throat, shuffling awkwardly into the office.

"Hey Nicky," she greeted, a little more cheerfully upon seeing who her visitor was. "What's up?"

"You mind if I close your door for a sec?" He enquired, already moving to do so without waiting for an answer.

For the first time since his arrival, Catherine put down her pen and took off her glasses.

"I'm intrigued." She hummed, regarding the Texan thoughtfully. "What's going on?"

Nick ambled towards the desk and leant across the back of the vacant chair in front of it. He opened his mouth; then closed it again, pursing his lips.

"Nick?" She pressed when he seemed to think about it for too long, leading her to assume he was reconsidering the conversation.

"Have you seen Sara tonight?" He asked at last, concern marring his boyish features.

"No, why?" She frowned, trying to discern whether she was meant to have been working with the woman for any particular reason.

"I'm probably just over-reacting, but … I think something's wrong with her." Nick explained uncomfortably, straightening up and stuffing his hands in his pockets. "She's been really quiet all shift and when I asked her what was wrong, she just went … detached, she just clammed up."

Cath shifted in her chair, resting her elbows on the desk and tenting her fingers pensively in front of her lips.

"Okay. And … you want me to talk to her?" She guessed.

"Yeah, I just …" He chewed on his lower lip, clearly unsettled by what he was doing. It felt so much like going behind Sara's back, but he didn't know what else to do. "I don't know, Cath. I've never seen her like this before. She's usually so focussed but today she was just … distracted."

Despite the look of genuine concern in her eyes, a small smile twitched at Cath's lips and she nodded assertively at the man.

"Leave it to me." She assured him gently. "I'll get her to open up."

X x x

Lindsey tipped her head back, letting the hot water sting every inch of her and watching the steam rising from her body; imagining her delicate flesh melting away with a kind of twisted fascination.

Not that is seemed to make a difference; no matter how much she turned it up, she couldn't shake the feeling of filth on her skin at what she had done.

Every time she thought about it she felt sickened to her very core.

Sinking to the tiled shower floor, she pulled her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her stomach, letting her salty tears wash away with the scalding water; leaving behind nothing but a cold, hollow shame.

X x x

"Sara," Catherine announced, leaning around the ajar locker room door. "You're with me now. I've already cleared it with Grissom."

The brunette looked up from her spot on the bench, startled by the ungainly entrance; but Catherine didn't stick around long enough for her to protest.

She had assumed – quite correctly – that Sara would oblige with the order without argument.

X x x

"Hey, you still with us?" Warrick clicked his fingers in front of Nick's face, startling the Texan back to the conversation.

"Huh?" Nick asked ineloquently, shaking his head in an attempt to rid himself of the cobwebs. "What?"

"What the hell's wrong with you tonight?"

"Nothing." He sulked, propping his head up on the magazine that he been pretending – evidently rather badly – to read.

When Warrick and Greg shared a bemused look at his reluctance to spill the beans and quickly shrugged it off, he watched them for a moment before expelling a frustrated sigh.

"Have you guys noticed anything bothering Sara lately?"

"Sara?" Greg repeated, furrowing his brow. "No, why?"

"I think something's wrong, but she wouldn't tell me what."

"Maybe she just didn't want to talk about it." The lab-rat theorised. Lord knows, he knew from experience not to even bother trying to get information out of Sara when she was in one of her moods.

"Yeah, Greg's right." Warrick agreed. "Come on, I mean you know Sara. When does she ever tell us what's going on in that pretty little head of hers?"

"I don't know, this just seemed … different. She was more detached than usual."

"Where is she now?" Warrick asked, finally showing some inkling of concern at his friend's suspicions.

"Hmm?" Nick asked, still distracted by his own worries. "Oh, she's with Catherine."

"Well there you go." The dark-skinned CSI chuckled, promptly brushing the fears away. "If there is something wrong, Cath will soon get to the bottom of it."

X x x

Sara continued to study her work, blissfully oblivious to the fact that she was being watched.

"Hey." Cath called out eventually, dragging her attention away from the blood-stained carpet she was so thoroughly examining. "Are you okay?"

Sara looked up, seemingly surprised by the question.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She shrugged.

"You sure?" Cath pressed, moving slowly towards her. "You're awfully quiet."

"Is that a bad thing?" Sara queried, continuing with her swabbing.

With no legitimate answer to that response, Catherine could merely nod in acceptance of the statement and resume her prior task of examining the bed.

Her sudden movement allowed her to catch the briefest glimpse of something underneath the wooden frame and she instinctively stilled. In slow, controlled movements, she crouched down and swept her flashlight underneath it. Sure enough, there was something under there. To her relief, it wasn't big enough to be human; although she wasn't entirely sure what it could be.

Either way, it didn't appear to be moving. Reaching underneath, she fumbled until her gloved hand brushed the soft bundle.

"Ow!" She yelped, wrenching her hand back and clutching it protectively to her chest.

"You okay?" Sara asked, appearing at her side in a heartbeat.

Catherine blinked back instinctive tears of pain, examining the neat tear in her glove and the thin stream of bright blood seeping through it.

"Something scratched me." She noted with more than a hint of disbelief.

Sara placed a hand on her shoulder, encouraging her to move aside, and took her place to peer underneath the furniture.

What faced her was a pair of big ocean blue eyes and an almost humanly curious expression.

"Oh," She breathed, tipping her head to the side. "Hello."

The little grey kitten mimicked her movement; before he rolled onto his back, paws in the air, and emitted a confused mewl at the baffled face staring back at him.

With a soft laugh, Sara reached under and grasped the little ball of fur firmly. When her hand re-emerged from under the bed, complete with kitten attached, she readjusted him so he was nestled comfortably in her grip.

He continued to nip playfully at her hand, not that the pain appeared to bother her.

"I hope you've had a tetanus shot." Cath hummed, reaching out cautiously to stroke the cat's head with the tip of her finger.

"I always wanted a kitten." Sara mused, fussing over the animal as it chewed contentedly on her knuckles.

"Well, I'm afraid that one is evidence." Cath pointed out. "I'll call animal control."

"No, it's okay." Sara assured her, already moving towards the door. "I'll do it."

Cath laughed, not buying for a second that Sara was merely trying to save her some time. Not that she was going to complain.

It was the first time she had seen the brunette smile all shift.

X x x

She didn't hear her phone vibrating the first time, likely due to the hairdryer buzzing in her ear.

The second time, however, she practically pounced on it.

It was a message from Sam.

No friendly greeting this time, no idle chit-chat. Just three words, delivered as bluntly in text-message form as they would be if she were standing in the room herself.

_Go online now_

X x x

Jim ducked under the tape, surveying the ransacked kitchen for a long moment.

"Hey Cath," he said at last, ambling towards her. "Where's your partner?"

"She's made a new friend." The strawberry blonde nodded towards the back yard, where Sara was reluctantly parting ways with the kitten.

"Aw." Jim smiled. "Well, when she's done I need to borrow her for a minute. I've got a witness that you're going to want to talk to."

"Okay." Cath shrugged, returning to her task at hand. "Just bring her back when you're done with her."

She was about to move into the living room, when something compelled her to stop for a minute and watch the encounter transpiring outside.

While Brass was talking to Sara, the younger woman was absently tugging on a pendant hanging around her neck. She couldn't see the detail on the necklace from here, but she recalled seeing Sara doing it earlier this shift as well.

Sloping into the next room to continue her examination of the scene, she added the quirk to her growing list of curious facts about the enigmatic CSI.


	8. Chapter 8

"_I don't understand how this happened_." Sam sobbed into the phone. "_It's not even me in that photo!"_

Lindsey opened her mouth to answer, but she honestly had no sentiments of consolation to offer. Unfortunately, Sam took her silence as disbelief and an indignant scoff echoed down the phone.

"_It's not, I swear_!" She insisted.

"I know, I know you wouldn't do that." Lindsey swallowed hard, feeling the words catch in her throat. "But it's going to be a little harder proving that to everyone else."

The line went quiet for a moment, before a strangled cry made its way down the line.

"_My life is over."_ Sam sniffed pitifully. "_I can never go back to school again_."

X x x

If Sara was quiet at the scene, she was positively mute on the drive back to the lab.

Catherine continued to cast glances at her from the driver's seat, not that the brunette appeared to notice as she stared blankly out of the window at the multihued blur of fluorescent lights.

"Okay," Cath sighed when they came to a stop in the congested line of traffic; turning to better face her colleague. "What's his name?"

Sara blinked, taken aback by the unpredicted question.

"Who?" She frowned.

"The guy that you're so obviously moping over." Catherine elaborated with a hint of a smile, reaching out to tap the little pendant around Sara's neck. Upon closer inspection, she had noted that it was a small silver rose suspended from a delicate chain, with an intricately twisted stalk and a turquoise stone at its heart. Whether by design or fluke, it was just the right length; nestling perfectly against the girl's sternum.

Sara blushed, instinctively reaching up to cup the necklace protectively in her hand.

"It's no one." She mumbled, sinking as far into her seat as the stiff faux-leather fabric would allow.

Catherine laughed, kicking the car into gear as the lights up ahead changed and the car in front slowly crawled away.

"Come on girl," she shook her head in amusement. "You can't pull that one on me: I know the signs. And there is definitely a guy in your life."

Despite the sadness that continued to haunt her chocolate-brown eyes, Sara chuckled.

You're losing your touch." She commented lightly, turning back to face the window. "No offence."

Catherine frowned, puzzled by the reaction. She hadn't expected Sara to actually tell her what was wrong – not without a fight, at least. That would have been out of character. But she had at least expected to pick up a few more clues along the way.

Not wanting to acknowledge out loud that she may be wrong about this one, she settled for lapsing back into silence and allowing Sara's mind the time it clearly needed to wander in peace.

X x x

For once she was grateful that her mother was working late into the morning, meaning her grandmother had to take her to school. Her mom would surely have known that something was bothering her, and she would have resolved to find out what it was, one way or another.

Samantha and Ruby were already waiting for her when she sloped up the school steps with her head ducked and her jacket wrapped tightly around herself despite the warmth of the sun beaming down on them.

"Where have you been?" Sam hissed, grabbing her roughly by the arm.

"I'm sorry." She stuttered. "My mom was running late." Technically not a lie, she mused internally.

"I don't know how this happened." The blonde launched straight into her continued tirade from the night before. "I never sent James a photo of myself, so why would he say that I did?"

"It can't be that bad." Lindsey attempted to comfort her, though it sounded awkward even to her own ears. "James took it down after an hour; I bet most people didn't even see it."

"Are you kidding?" Ruby asked, successfully shooting the theory down in flames with the tone of her voice alone. "It's way too late for that." She produced her cell phone and tapped the screen a few times before presenting it for Lindsey to see. "People have been texting the photo around all night. Everyone in the school has seen it."

Sam sank onto the grass, curling her legs up to her chest and rocking gently.

"My life is over." She cried softly. "I just don't understand why he would do that? What did I ever do to him?"

Lindsey felt the pangs of guilt strike in her gut again and blinked back bitter tears.

"Guys suck." She managed to say with the last remains of her limited composure.

"It's not even me!" Sam continued as if she hadn't spoken. "I never even sent James a photo, why would he just post a photo of some random girl and say it was me?"

Ruby and Lindsey joined her on the ground, huddling protectively around their friend.

"I talked to my cousin at Western High School," Ruby continued, absently pulling up blades of grass and threading them through her fingers. "And according to him there is no guy called James Robinson in the 10th grade."

Lindsey gulped, feeling her cheeks tint beneath her make-up. When she made that profile, it had never crossed her mind that Ruby knew people at that school. She'd only picked it because it wasn't too far away from Butterfield Academy.

"What do you mean?" Samantha frowned. "He was lying to me?"

"No," Ruby rolled her eyes, sitting forwards. "I mean, he doesn't exist. Someone faked the profile."

X x x

As Catherine's eyes caught sight of the time in the corner of her screen, she emitted a long groan. Lindsey was already at school by now, and she hadn't even finished her reports from the night before yet.

She had left Sara with the thankless task of processing all the evidence from their scene; something else she was not exactly thrilled about. She still hadn't gotten to the bottom of her friend's bad mood, and the woman's cryptic comment in the car had left her puzzling over it even more.

She had been so certain that she was right. The dissociative attitude, the sullen expression, the near-obsessive fidgeting with the necklace. It all pointed to relationship troubles.

But Sara had been _so_ adamant that there wasn't a man in her life…

X x x

Despite Lindsey's weak assurance that no one would take any notice of the photo, Sam felt the stares as soon as they entered the building.

Overnight, the trio had become pariahs in their own school. Badly disguised snickering and whispered comments echoed from behind open locker doors.

"Hey Sammy." An overly-pleased female voice called from somewhere behind them. "Who's the slut now?"

Ally, of course. Because Samantha wasn't having a bad enough day as it was.

Lindsey spun on her heels, her blue eyes flaming with indignant anger.

"Why don't you just back off you little troll!" She snapped, gripping her best friend by the shoulders and forcibly guiding her through the crowded hallway into the nearest set of bathrooms; to a chorus of gleeful laughter and harsh sneers seemingly emanating from every wall in the forbidding building.

She hadn't really known what she was intending to happen when she posted that photo, but this wasn't it.

X x x

"I made a mistake." Catherine stated lightly, leaning against the open door. Sara looked up, utter bemusement written on her features.

"What?" She queried.

"I made a mistake." Cath repeated, trying to hide her smile as she ambled towards her colleague. "It's not a guy."

Sara nodded slowly, too distracted for this conversation right now, and turned back to the scattering of receipts laid out before her on the light table.

Not content to leave it there, Catherine draped herself across the back of the younger CSI's chair until her lips were mere inches from Sara's ear and purred softly;

"So, what's _her_ name?"


	9. Chapter 9

Despite a few nervous reservations, she was undeniably curious to see how Sara would react to her little realisation.

Unfortunately, it was not to be.

Before Sara even had time to turn around, Grissom's stern voice bellowed her name from the doorway.

Both women jumped, turning to face him with matching expressions of shock. He did not look particularly impressed, nor did he look like he had time to stand and chat about Sara's love life; although he did spare a second to raise an eyebrow at Catherine's position draped across the younger woman's shoulders.

"Warrant's come through for the Wilkinson case." He stated grimly, not beating around the bush. "I'll meet you at the car."

Sara continued to stare into the busy hallway for a long moment after his abrupt departure, having still not said a word since his entrance. Finally, she glanced up at Catherine and offered a tight smile.

"I have to go." She slithered out from underneath the blonde and moved swiftly to the door.

Catherine watched her disappear into the hall, a mixture of frustration and impatience at having her thunder stolen by the entomologist's ill-timed arrival.

And she hadn't even gotten any sign that her new theory was right.

X x x

Lindsey and Sam stayed close together as they barrelled their way through the corridor towards the main school entrance.

They had decided, unsurprisingly, that it would be wise to skip lunch today.

A flash of brunette hair in front of them caught their eye and Lindsey's eyes lit up.

"Ruby!" She called, briefly relinquishing her hold on Sam's arm to jog after the final member of their threesome. "Rubes, wait up!"

To her surprise, the girl came to a sudden stop – so sudden, in fact, that Lindsey nearly ran into the back of her – and spun around with a blank expression plastered on her make-up laden face.

"Look, don't take this the wrong way." She held up her hands, flicking her eyes between the two of them. "But, I can't deal with this." She gestured to the mass of people blatantly staring at them from within whispering huddles.

"Ruby, come on…" Lindsey frowned. "You can't just ditch her, not now."

"You don't get it Linds," the olive-skinned girl sighed. "I've been called every name under the sun today, because of her." She nodded at Sam. "I've never been called a bad name in my life!"

"So what?" Lindsey continued, her voice rising in anger. "I've been getting those names today as well."

"Yeah," Ruby scoffed, already backing away from them. "Well, if you want to put up with it, that's your call. But I'm out."

Lindsey felt Sam materialise at her side again and cast a furtive glance at her face. She hadn't said a word, and neither had she had made any effort to stop Ruby from leaving; but the silent tears building in her eyes said it all.

Without waiting for Lindsey to speak again, she turned and walked quickly back down the hall towards the locker rooms, living her best friend standing in the middle of the corridor; exposed and horribly alone.

X x x

"Melissa."

Catherine stilled, turning slowly to blink at Sara in bemusement.

"I'm sorry?" She queried.

"You wanted to know her name." Sara explained, ambling into the garage and lazily surveying the classic car that Cath was currently tainting with fingerprint powder. "I figured I should clear it up before you went to the guys for answers instead."

That got Catherine's full attention and, putting the powder-loaded brush aside, she wiped her forehead and moved closer to her colleague.

"Do they know?"

"No," Sara responded immediately. "And I'd like to keep it that way." Her tone was light, but the look on her face made the point clear. This was a conversation to be kept in confidence.

Cath's lips twitched into a gleeful smile at being the first to know and she pretended to resume her work.

"So, tell me about her." She hummed casually, hoping to keep the discussion going. To her surprise, Sara seemed remarkably unperturbed given the sensitive nature of the topic and answered the question with ease.

"She's a physiotherapist at Desert Palm." She explained, peering into the car. Upon noting that the seats were real animal skin, she quickly straightened up and turned her attention to the engine instead. Given the age of the car and the owner's taste, she doubted it would be electric, but she could always hope. "We met a few weeks ago."

"Is it serious?"

"It was." Came the eerily calm reply "Now it's not."

Cath nodded slowly, eyeing her colleague carefully over the roof of the vehicle.

"She hurt you?" She guessed at last. This time Sara did look up, her eyes clouding over with something akin to anger; although it soon dissipated.

"Yeah." She answered quietly at last, letting her gaze fall back to the ground.

Cath couldn't help but feel for the girl; despite the investigator in her dying to ask more questions, she decided to take pity on her for now.

"Well, if you feel like sharing some more over a beer after shift, you know where to find me." She smiled warmly, hoping to exude understanding rather than intrigue. "Or if you just feel like sharing a beer; that would be fine too."

To her utmost relief, Sara smiled too.

"I'd like that."

X x x

"I can't believe she ditched us like that." Lindsey scowled, pacing in small circles around the lonesome tree they were using for solace.

"I can't blame her." Sam moped morosely, having settled herself on the floor against the thin trunk. "It's not her fault that I screwed up."

Lindsey softened her features a bit and joined her on the bare, sandy patch of ground.

"You didn't screw up." She said softly. "You made a mistake – you fell for the wrong guy. But you know better now."

"Yeah, but it's not just that though is it?" Sam asked rhetorically. "I didn't just fall for the _wrong_ guy; I fell for a _fake_ guy."

Lindsey felt a twinge in her chest and tried to shake it away, but it settled itself deep; like a lead weight on her heart.

"You weren't to know." She mumbled, dropping her eyes.

Sam cast a suspicious glance at her, and for a second Lindsey thought she'd given herself away, when the blonde relaxed her features.

"You're the best friend in the world, you know that?" She murmured, leaning across to drag Lindsey into a tight hug. "I don't know what I'd do without you right now."

"Yeah." Linds whispered, burying her face in Sam's hair. "You better remember it."

X x x

"So," Cath straightened up in her seat, fixing Sara with a semi-stern look. "Why all the secrecy, Miss Sidle?"

Sara pretended to consider the question for a long minute, before pursing her lips.

"Why do _you_ think I didn't say anything?"

"Because," Cath breathed, letting her head fall back against the soft cushions of the booth; "we work in a male-dominated business and you thought you'd be crucified for it."

Sara tipped the bottle in her hand towards her friend in a sign of agreement, before draining the last of it.

"Can you blame me?" She asked, flashing the woman a grin.

"No." Cath chuckled. "But I wish you'd told _me_."

"I did tell you."

"Only because you got caught out." Catherine scoffed. "You wouldn't have done if I hadn't asked."

"That's not true." Sara countered, pushing their empty bottles aside and propping her head up on the table. "I told you three years ago."

"You did not." Cath blinked.

"Yes I did." Sara reiterated coolly.

"When?"

"When you took me for a drink after Hank and I…" she pulled a face, shaking the thought away. "I told you that I should have stuck with women. And you said women were too complex and I'd be safer with men because they were easier to understand."

"I do not remember that." Cath continued to stare at her in astonishment, her expression a picture of incredulity. "I said that?"

"Verbatim." Sara laughed softly, greatly enjoying turning the tables on her assistant supervisor. "Of course, you were trashed at the time."

The older woman threw her head back, a bright laugh bubbling out of her. She genuinely didn't remember that conversation, but it did sound like something she would have said under the influence of too much alcohol.

"Well, I stand by it." She shrugged at last. "Women _are_ harder to understand. You, in particular."

"Thank you." Sara smiled, unabashed. Cath smiled too, glad not to have damaged their rapport with her offhand comment. Gesturing to the barman to bring them two more, she made herself more comfortable in the booth and folded her hands on her stomach.

"So, what sort of women catch your eye? Other than the standard cheaters and liars, of course."

X x x

When Lindsey finally arrived home, having dragged her feet all the way from Sam's house, she was surprised in equal measure to find that her mom still wasn't home and they had company.

"Hi Lindsey." Her aunt Nancy greeted chirpily. "You're home late."

"Yeah, I went to Samantha's for a while." She mumbled. "Where's mom?"

"She had an important meeting after work." Nancy explained, although the tone of her voice suggested that she didn't quite believe that was the case. "She was just going to drop someone off afterwards, so she should be home soon."

In a cab, no doubt, the nurse thought to herself bitterly.

Lindsey peered around her into the living room, which she was surprised to find deserted but for her grandmother attempting to get a tan from the safety and comfort of the couch.

"Jeremy's upstairs." Her aunt answered before she could ask. "He's borrowing your laptop."

Lindsey started to nod in acceptance of this, before a horrifying thought struck her and her face drained of colour.

"My laptop?" She repeated quietly, her gaze already disappearing upstairs.

X x x

"Well, Miss Sara, I can honestly say it's been a pleasure getting to know you." Cath chuckled absent-mindedly. "Even if it has taken six years."

Sara opened the door to the cab, letting Catherine climb in first.

"Technically it only took three." She pointed out, following her in. "You were just too drunk to remember it."

Cath initially nodded in agreement, but trailed off as another thought crept into her consciousness.

"Hey, I just have one question." She posited, smacking her friend's knee lightly. "If you thought I already knew, why didn't you ever mention it again?"

The answer, as with earlier in the day, was uncharacteristically blasé.

"Because I knew you'd forgotten."

X x x

"Jem!" Lindsey bellowed, practically throwing the door open. "Don't touch my computer!"

But it was too late. The boy looked up at her graceless entrance, his expression fixed in a look of disappointment and disbelief.

"You are in _so_ much trouble."


	10. Chapter 10

Lindsey slammed the door shut lest her aunt overhear them, turning to her cousin with a panicked look; desperation alight in her eyes.

"Jem, please," she held out her hands pleadingly. "Don't say anything."

"What have you done, Linds?" He asked, though he was already well aware of the answer. "You set up your own best friend?"

"No!" She contested hurriedly, rushing across the small room towards him. "It wasn't like that. I was just trying to show her what guys are capable of."

"By pretending to be one? That's sick." He scrunched up his nose in disgust. "And you sent that ... that photo – who is it?"

Lindsey dropped her head in shame, unable to meet his eye. It took a moment for him to register what her guilty behaviour was indicating, and when it did his face contorted into an expression of absolute horror.

"Oh, God!" The boy recoiled, pushing himself out of the swivel chair and beginning to pace in small circles around the limited space afforded to him; dragging his hands through his short, spiky hair. "That's you?"

"I had to." She squeaked, offering a meek shrug.

"Everyone has seen that photo Lindsey!" He continued, his voice rising with each word. "I've seen that photo!"

"Keep it down." She hissed, casting anxious glances towards the closed bedroom door.

He lowered his voice as requested, but continued to wave his hands in fury at her actions.

"What were you thinking? That photo is all around _my_ school, never mind _yours_!"

"That wasn't meant to happen." She insisted, sinking onto the end of the bed despondently and twisting her fingers through her long tresses. "I only put it online for an hour. I thought Sam would see it and realise that she had made a mistake. I never thought that people would start sharing it."

"Of course they would." He shook his head, joining her on the mattress. "Linds … why would you even think of doing something like that?"

She looked up, her blue eyes – so like his own – clouding over with sadness.

"I don't know Jem." She moped despondently, falling back onto the bed and covering her face with her hands. "Everything's such a mess."

X x x

As she ambled up the steps to her house, soaking in the last of the late afternoon sun, Catherine honestly couldn't remember when she had last felt so relaxed.

Of course, it was not to last.

"Long meeting was it?" An accusing voice inquired before she could even close the front door behind her.

She turned to blink at her sister in surprise.

"Your key is for emergencies, Nance." She pointed out bluntly, pushing the door shut and tossing her own set onto the table.

"Yeah, well. Sue me. I needed to talk to you." The nurse dismissed the comment, trailing the older sibling through into the kitchen, where she was already pouring herself a cup of coffee. "I notice that your car isn't with you."

"How observant of you." Catherine hummed cryptically. "Where are the kids?"

"Upstairs, fighting over the computer no doubt." Nancy brushed the question aside. "But that is actually what I wanted to talk to you about."

"Okay." Cath frowned, planting herself at the kitchen table with her freshly made drink. "So talk."

Nancy joined her, ignoring the fact that Cath had neglected to offer her a beverage as well. Her siblings rudeness could wait until another day. She folded her hands on the table carefully, pursing her lips.

"I ran into Julia Hillridge the other day, when I was dropping Jeremy off at Karate."

"Okay." Cath nodded, not understanding the relevance of this. She knew that Julia's son attended the same class as Jeremy; it was a subject she had discussed many a time with the woman when they ran out of better things to talk about.

"She said that Samantha and Lindsey had had a falling out the other day." Nancy continued. "But Samantha wouldn't tell her what it was about."

"Oh." For the first time since arriving home, Catherine's shoulders slumped a little. "Well, Lindsey didn't say anything to me about it."

That thought was not a comfortable one for the strawberry-blonde – she liked to think that her daughter could tell her anything, although recent events seemed to be providing copious evidence to the contrary.

"Okay," she sighed at last, her good mood well and truly dissipated now. "Okay, I'll talk to her. I'm sure it's nothing though – you know what teenage girls are like."

"Yeah, I know." Nancy smiled tightly, clearly not persuaded that it was indeed _nothing_. "I just thought you should know."

X x x

Sara jumped with surprise when at the sharp trilling emanating from her living room-come-kitchen. Having barely got out of the shower, and rarely receiving calls on her home phone, she snatched a bathrobe from the back of the bathroom door and rushed to grab it before the caller hung up.

"Hi." Catherine greeted at her breathless answer. "Sorry, did I interrupt something?"

"No." Sara lied. "No, not at all. What's up?" She sank onto the couch, having successfully wrapped herself into her gown with her one free hand, and curled into the corner of the cushions; her damp hair trailing down her neck in loose waves.

"Lindsey." Cath moped, ironically mirroring Sara's position, though neither would ever know it. "She's hiding things from me."

"Things like what?" Sara pressed gently, sensing that this was going to be a long call.

Catherine sighed, letting her head fall back against the couch back. She had deliberated about whether or not to call the brunette; but given their change in relationship of late, Sara had been the first person she thought of and now she was decidedly glad she had taken the chance.

"She had a fight with her best friend the other day, but when I asked about it she refused to tell me anything. She just clammed up completely."

"Well, I'm not an expert in these things." Sara mused. "But don't teenage girls usually fall out over the most trivial things?"

"Yeah," Cath exhaled tiredly. "But she's been keeping so many things from me lately; I can't help but feel like I'm missing something important."

"Well," Sara chewed on the inside of her cheek. "Maybe she feels like there isn't ever a good time to tell you. Why don't you take her out somewhere, spend the day with her and see if she'll open up to you then?"

Cath straightened up, considering the proposal for a long moment.

"You know, that's not a bad idea." She hummed at last. "She does have a prom dress to buy – she might be persuaded to go on a shopping trip."

"As long as you're paying, presumably." Sara laughed softly, secretly pleased when her friend responded in kind. She couldn't deny that it felt strange being called up at home for a friendly chat with her assistant supervisor. But in an odd sort of way, it felt comfortable. It felt like they'd been doing it for years.

Having relaxed a little about her predicament, Catherine smiled warmly.

"Hey Sar," she called softly, breaking the easy silence they had fallen into. "You're better at this then you think."


	11. Chapter 11

Sara took off her sunglasses, sliding them onto the top of her head and dragging her straightened tresses with them.

"Gentlemen." She greeted the uniformed officers who were holding the crime scene tape for her to duck under. "What have we got?"

"Dead man in the gutters." The larger cop stated bluntly, scratching the back of his head. "Looks like an open and shut case – two homeless guys got into it over scraps of food and one lost."

Sara blinked at the rather ineloquently presented, unsupported hypothesis.

"Well, thanks for your input but we usually like to _collect_ the evidence before we start making judgements about it." She said, her voice dripping with more than a hint of cynicism.

He rolled his eyes and muttered something flippant under his breath about scientists, before sloping back towards his suspect; who was waiting patiently outside the police car in handcuffs.

The man in question was easily into his sixties, although his unfortunate circumstances made it near impossible to make any accurate estimation as to his exact age. His tattered and bloodstained clothes were reminiscent of a time long since passed and his grey hair was matted and coarse as wire. He wore the weathered face of a man who had spent his whole life fighting a losing battle.

Sara was about to turn back towards her scene, when out of the corner of her eye she caught sight of something that made her stomach lurch. The cop had grabbed the suspect by his collar and slammed his back roughly against the car door; while his younger partner threw a casual derogatory remark into the ethers.

Sara was already moving tentatively towards them, when she managed to catch the tail end of his comment and suddenly she was on them like a hurricane.

"Hey!" She barked, pushing between the cops. "What is wrong with you? Didn't they teach you how to treat people with respect in the academy?"

"Come on," the junior officer scoffed, visibly surprised by her reaction. "You can't be serious? He's a nobody."

Sara set her jaw, her expression hardening.

"You don't know anything about this man." She snapped between gritted teeth. "And for all you know, he could be a victim."

Turning her attention to the distraught man, still slumped against the car and watching her carefully through tear-filled eyes, she softened her tone.

"Sir, are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"He … he took my sandwich." He stammered, his cloudy gaze shifting to the deceased.

Now she could see him properly, it, it was obvious that he had some sort of mental condition; be it natural or through years of drug-abuse she couldn't say. Either way, she decided it didn't really matter.

"Okay," she nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear. "Did he hurt you?"

"My sandwich." He continued despondently, searching her face for some answers that she just didn't have. "They gave it to _me_. It was _mine_."

Taking a deep breath, Sara placed a gentle hand on his arm and attempted to guide him towards a second police car that had turned up in the interim.

"Okay, I tell you what. Why don't you go with these men and they'll get you something to eat." She offered calmly. "Anything you want."

For the first time, she saw a glimmer of trust in his dusky grey eyes.

"Anything?" He repeated softly. "I … I want my sandwich."

"We can get you a sandwich." She promised, nodding at the newly-arrived officers who had unintentionally walked into this situation. "Gentleman, could you take him to the station and get him something to eat please." She asked politely, ensuring to keep her tone soft but firm. They exchanged an uncertain look, but picked up on the threat behind her unwavering stare and silently obliged.

Happy that the guy was going to be well taken care of for the time being, Sara turned back around to be met with the sight of Catherine watching her from afar.

She hadn't even seen her assistant supervisor arrive at the scene; nor did she know how much the older CSI had seen, and the senior's expression was utterly indecipherable.

Realising that she had been spotted, Cath wandered over.

"You think I crossed a line?" Sara asked rhetorically; deciding that if she was going to be berated, she'd rather get it over with as soon as possible.

"No." Catherine appeared taken aback by the accusation. "Actually, I was going to say that was nicely handled."

Sara's only response was silence, too surprised to come up with a legitimate reply to the unexpected compliment. Catherine held her gaze for an agonizingly long minute, before disappearing back in the direction of the scene – taking a second to throw a scornful glare at the shamefaced officers still lurking by their vehicle on her way.

X x x

"So," Catherine hummed casually, slipping her hands into the back pockets of her jeans in an effort to appear laidback and relaxed. "Is there anything in particular you want to look for today?"

"No." Lindsey replied, blithely gazing into each store they ambled past. She paused, scowling up at her mother. "I thought you said we were looking for prom dresses."

"We are." Cath smiled. "But we can look for other things as well. We can do whatever you want."

Lindsey's frown deepened. She had been sceptical enough when her mom had first suggested this mother-daughter shopping trip; but now she was downright suspicious.

"Why are we doing this?" She asked, not even bothering to hide the distrust in her voice.

"What do you mean?" Catherine offered a puzzled smile. "I just thought we could spend the day together."

"Why?" Lindsey repeated, coming to a stop and folding her arms across her chest defensively. Credit where it was due, her mother's techniques for extracting information from her were getting subtler; but she still didn't appreciate them.

"I just wanted to spend some time with you." Cath assured her, although the raised eyebrow she received in response told her that the honest answer was not quite sufficient. "And," she continued, pursing her lips. "I was hoping you might talk to me."

"About what?"

"Anything." She shrugged. "Whatever you want to talk about. Like, why you and Sam fell out recently?"

Finally, the penny dropped; and with it, so did Lindsey's jaw.

"How do you know about that?"

"Your aunt Nancy spoke to Mrs Hillridge." Catherine explained, tugging Lindsey gently towards a bench in the centre of the wide shopping mall corridor. On the other end of it, a young mother was attempting to feed her sullen toddler an ice cream, with little success.

"Nothing's wrong with me and Sam." Lindsey insisted, crossing her arms as she dropped heavily onto the bench. "It was just a stupid fight, that's all. But it's over now."

"What was the fight about?" Cath pressed gently, not quite willing to let this conversation end just yet. Lord knows, it was the closest they had come to a proper talk in weeks.

Yet her daughter remained tight-lipped.

"Lindsey?"

"It's none of your business!" The girl barked, startling the young woman sharing their seat with them and causing the tot to start bawling again. Catherine offered an apologetic smile at the scowling woman.

When she turned around again, her own child was already stalking away from her.

"Hey, Lindsey!" She leapt to her feet and dashed after her, barely managing to catch the girl's arm and swing her around before she reached the escalators. "What is the matter with you?"

Lindsey wrenched her arm free, taking a decisive step back.

"I want to go home." She moped. "I'll be waiting at the car."

With that, she turned and stropped away in the direction of the rooftop parking lot. Catherine shook her head in utter loss, catching sight of the young mother watching her with undisguised disapproval.

"You just wait." She muttered under her breath, sloping miserably after her wayward child. "In ten years time, this will be you."

X x x

Cath threw her head back, one hand stretching over her eyes while the other idly swirled her drink.

Lindsey had elected to sleep over at Samantha's tonight – a decision Catherine strongly believed was designed to make a point about the state of the girls' friendship.

Unfortunately, that left the strawberry-blonde feeling decidedly downcast. Her daughter was still refusing to talk to her; and now she was refusing to even stay in the same house as her.

So much for her maternal instincts.

She sat forwards, staring into the bottom of her glass forlornly. The last dregs of the clear liquid glinted back up at her tortuously.

Knocking it back in one go, she rose unsteadily to her feet to get a re-fill.

However, she never got to the drinks cabinet; only making it as far as the phone. She cast a glance at it, debating whether or not to make the call that had been playing on her mind for most of the evening.

The only thing stopping her was reluctance to let Sara see her in such a state.

Finally deciding – possibly due to her ever-so-slightly tipsy condition – that her desire to talk was stronger than the potential consequences for their friendship if Sara realised she was hammered; she snatched the handset up and dialled the increasingly familiar number.

No answer. Damn.

She slammed it back down and clawed her hands through her hair. The one time she needed Sara and the anti-social brunette had actually gone out.

She was about to reclaim her drink and continue drowning her sorrows in liquor, when she stopped again. In some buried corner of her memory, she vaguely recalled the name of a bar that Sara had claimed to frequent on her nights off.

And tonight _was_ her night off.

It was a long shot, but that was a chance she was willing to take right now.


	12. Chapter 12

The bar, contrary to her expectations, was dim and dusky; decorated in dark red and amber tones and lit by a handful of shaded orange bulbs. The cab ride had sobered her considerably, but she quickly found herself disorientated by the artificial mist being pumped around the small dance floor from a series of ceiling vents.

Her initial optimism at finding Sara here had begun to wane. After all, with all the bars in Vegas, who was to say that Sara was going to have come _here_ tonight? If she was even in a bar at all – she could have been grocery shopping, or on a date.

For reasons unknown to her, that latter option caused an unsettling feeling to grow in the pit of Catherine's stomach.

Shrugging the thought away, she narrowed her eyes and scanned the open-plan area. Everywhere she looked, people were dancing, or drinking; or in some ambitious cases, both. If you didn't look too closely, you could be forgiven for thinking you were in any – for lack of a better word – 'normal' bar off the strip.

Sliding and ducking carefully through the gyrating crowd, she finally made it to the bar and propped herself against it; attempting to catch her breath back. She cast a casual glance down the bar and, by some grace of God, found herself staring straight at the object of her hunt.

The brunette was chatting happily with the bartender, a younger woman with cropped jet-black hair and a pixie face. She clearly hadn't noticed Catherine yet; and nor did she notice when the blonde crept closer and hovered nervously behind her.

In fact, it was the barmaid who first caught sight of her, and a knowing smirk spread across her impish face. Sara evidently realised that her words were falling on deaf ears and turned to see what had captured her companion's attention.

"Hi." Cath squeaked, twisting her hands anxiously. "I hope I'm not interrupting…"

"No." Sara shook her head, blinking in surprise at this unexpected visit and gesturing to the vacant seat beside her. "Is everything okay?"

Cath accepted the offer and climbed gracelessly onto the stool. Her plan had been to make this look like a chance encounter, but judging by Sara's concerned expression that idea was already out of the window. Even if it had been plausible, which it wasn't, she should have known that the sharp woman would see through her façade.

"No." She breathed, emitting a dry laugh. "No, everything's not okay."

Sara narrowed her eyes, trying to gauge the problem from the look on Cath's face alone. She turned in her seat, casting a slow glance over the noisy bar, before focusing her attention on Catherine again.

Seemingly having made a decision, she gripped her friend's hand and tugged her towards the door.

Catherine didn't object, ducking her head and allowing herself to be lead, until she felt a gust of cool air rush over her body.

When she finally looked up again, they were outside and they were alone; with nothing but shimmering lights and a bright, full moon staring back at them.

X x x

"It's not that bad." Lindsey offered meekly, though the words sounded as helpless now as they had done when she uttered them half an hour ago. "Sooner or later, people will forget about it."

"When?" Sam asked desperately, although the plea came out strangled due to her position, laid on her back with her head hanging off the edge of the bed.

Lindsey was glad that she couldn't see her best friend's face, because she didn't have an answer to that question.

She hadn't really wanted to stay with Samantha tonight, but after the scene she caused at the mall, she figured a bit of damage control was in order. She had hoped that it might throw her mother off the scent for a while.

And, naturally, Sam's mother had agreed instantly. Mrs Hillridge was clearly well aware that something was wrong with her daughter, and she was worried enough to break the 'no slumber parties on a school night' rule.

She obviously thought that spending some time with her best friend might cheer Sam up a bit.

What a joke that idea was.

X x x

"I can see why you go there." She hummed, gladly accepting to hot coffee Sara handed her.

It was an undeniable certainty that she was not going to work tonight; although she hadn't quite managed to make the call to Grissom yet. Sara had reasoned that it was better for her to be sober and coherent before she tried to convince their perceptive boss that she was sick.

"The view, right?" She continued, as the brunette joined her on the couch.

"Pretty much." Sara agreed. "And the staff."

Cath nodded slowly, recalling her first sight of Sara; chatting to the barmaid.

"The woman you were talking to…" She began softly.

"Lara." Sara smiled, a warm relaxed smile rarely seen on her normally somber face. "She runs the place with her partner. They've had it for going on six years now."

"Really?" Cath hummed, unexpectedly pleased to hear that the woman was taken.

They lapsed into an odd silence, with each contemplating the events of the past few hours.

"I guess we've both had a pretty bad day, huh?" She mused at last, drawing a confused hum from Sara. "The homeless guy – you seemed to take it pretty hard, when those cops were upsetting him."

"Oh, that." Sara waved a dismissive hand. "Mental health has always been a … sensitive issue of mine."

Catherine nodded, trying to think of a way to respond to that without making it sound like she was prying; when she started at the feeling of something brushing past her leg.

Two big eyes stared up at her, before nuzzling her shins again.

"Don't tell me you adopted it?" She blinked, instantly recognising the cute little face.

"_He_ needed a home." Sara pointed out, producing a bag of cat biscuits from somewhere beside of the couch and shaking a couple out into her hand. "Say hello to Bandit."

"Bandit?" Cath repeated, amused, as the cat up bounded between them to crunch on the treats Sara was offering. "Why Bandit?"

"Because he steals things." Sara answered easily, scratching the kitten between the ears with her free hand.

"Things like what?"

"My keys." Sara replied. "My clothes, my food. Last week, he managed to get my razor from the bathroom and nearly shredded the couch with it."

An instinctive laugh bubbled out of Cath at the image of Sara coming home to find the kitten playing happily with the blades without a second thought for it's own safety or the safety of the furniture.

"He's very affectionate." She chuckled.

"Only when he wants something." Sara countered, brushing the crumbs off her hand and scooping the cat into her lap.

"Of course, he's a man." Catherine joked, a mischievous twinkle in her eye as she caught Sara's gaze. "Then again, I can understand why that might be unfamiliar news to you."

The look of shock on Sara's face at the playful jibe was too much for her and her attempts to keep a straight face dissolved into giggles; which were only exasperated when she felt a cushion lightly smash into her face.

X x x

"I hate my life so much right now." Sam sobbed. She had repositioned herself after the tingling sensation of a head-rush began to set in; and was now leaning against the headboard, slumped heavily against Lindsey's shoulder. "I've messed up so badly and now everybody hates me."

"Not everybody." The young Willows answered awkwardly. "I don't."

Sam blinked up at her through tear-laden eyes.

"No." She squeaked. "No, I know that." She shuffled upright, dragging Lindsey into a tight hug. "You're the best thing in my life right now. I should have listened to you in the first place."

Lindsey felt her heart tighten as Jem's words rang through her mind. She hated to admit it, but he had been right. Everything she had done ... it was going to haunt her until she fixed it.

She couldn't take it anymore. She had to come clean.

"Sam," she murmured, pulling back and tenderly wiping away the tears from her friend's eyes. "There's something I need to tell you."

X x x

"Sara," Cath called out curiously, tipping her head towards the ceiling. "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure." The brunette hummed, ambling back in from the balcony and closing the door behind her, before settling herself on the couch beside her colleague. "Shoot."

"Last night, the homeless guy … what set you off?"

To her utmost surprise, Sara laughed.

"I was wondering when you were going to bring that up." She pursed her lips.

Catherine shifted, waiting patiently for the explanation that she knew would come eventually.

"I don't know, I guess that mental health is a … tender issue for me." Sara continued after a long moment. "When I saw them treating him like that I just … I can't tolerate that kind of thing."

Her voice had softened, her gaze sliding off across the room somewhere.

Catherine studied her closely. She knew from great experience that when Sara became emotionally invested in a case – for whatever reason – she was like a dog with a bone.

But there was something else this time. Something … deeper, more painful. This truly was a topic close to her heart.

"You're very sweet." A husky voice mused, warm breath grazing the shell of her ear. "You know that?"

When Sara turned her head, she found herself gazing into warm blue eyes that were mere inches from her own. They were so close; she could almost taste the coffee emanating from the blonde.

For a tortuously long moment, neither moved.

Finally, without breaking their staring contest, Catherine darted forwards. However, a split second before their lips met, they were stilled by the ill-timed trilling of a phone.

Sitting back, Catherine extracted it from her pocket and glanced, almost reluctantly, at the message.

"Something wrong?" Sara asked hoarsely, noting the frown on her face and trying to ignore the cauldron of feelings stirring in the pit of her stomach.

"Lindsey." Cath answered, looking up for the first time with a blank mask where previously there was lust and affection. "She wants to come home."


	13. Chapter 13

**I'm very tired and I don't know if this chapter makes sense, but I hope you enjoy it either way :)**

**x x x x**

"Lindsey," Catherine begged, although the futility of her attempts had long since registered with both of them. "Please honey, just talk to me."

The teenager, already halfway up the stairs, stopped and turned to face her with a hardened expression that made Catherine's stomach knot.

"There's nothing to talk about." She said; her voice unnervingly vacant.

"Linds," Cath tried again, softening her tone. "Please…"

"Mom." The girl rolled her eyes, spinning on her heels and stomping upstairs as fast as her small feet could carry her.

Despite every maternal bone in her body screaming at her to follow, Catherine remained at the bottom of the stairs. At the definitive sound of Lindsey's bedroom door slamming shut, she dropped heavily onto the steps and let her head fall against the banister.

Nothing made any sense anymore. She felt like, in the space of an hour, her whole life had been turned inside out. She had gone from the top of the world to feeling like the worst parent in the world.

And she just didn't know what to do about any of it anymore.

X x x

Once the door was firmly shut, her carefully constructed barriers had come crashing down and she had flung herself onto the bed, clutching a fluffy throw pillow to her chest protectively.

Now, in the unsettling quiet of her room, she didn't even attempt to wipe away the tears; instead letting them trickle down her cheeks unnoticed and drop from her chin onto the white painted wooden frame resting in her hands.

Her own smiling face was staring back at her. The photo had sat beside her bed for as long as she and Sam had been friends. It was taken at a theme park – their arms slung around the other's shoulders and their heads tipped together as they flashed matching grins at the camera over their rapidly melting ice creams.

They were such a good team.

_Were_.

X x x

She jumped when her phone rang, fumbling in her pocket for it and nearly dropping it in the process.

She still hadn't gotten around the changing the ringtone back, and Katy Perry's contralto voice pulsed through the silence until Cath managed to get a firm grip on the device and hurriedly answered it.

"Hey." A smooth voice replied. "I just wanted to check everything was alright … with Lindsey."

She couldn't help but notice the small pause in Sara's sentence, but she pushed the thought to one side for now.

"She's … not talking." Catherine answered at last, automatically glancing upstairs for any sign of the girl. "I don't know Sar, I just don't know what to do anymore."

There was another pause.

"Do you want me to come over?"

X x x

_It had probably only been a few seconds, but to Lindsey it felt like an hour. _

"_Sam." She squeaked tearfully. "Say something."_

"_Like what?" The girl asked, turning her gaze slowly to face Lindsey. "Like 'I forgive you'?"_

"_I'm sorry." Lindsey repeated. "I never thought things would turn out like this. I … I just wanted to help you…"_

"_Help me?" Sam barked, finally showing some element of emotion. "You posted a naked picture online and said it was me to _help_ me? Are you kidding?"_

"_I know." Lindsey mumbled in a shaky voice, dropping her head in shame. "I know I screwed up. I'm sorry." _

"_You're sorry." Samantha emitted a dry laugh. "You – my supposed best friend – stabbed me in the back, humiliated me. But it's okay, because you're _sorry_."_

"_I'm still your best friend." Lindsey said quietly, her bottom lip quavering. _

_Sam blinked at her, momentarily too stunned for words. _

"_Get out." She spat at last. "I don't want to see you ever again! Get out!"_

X x x

She felt numb, but even that didn't seem to be stopping the tears.

She couldn't deny that she was worried about what Sam might tell her mom. And, of course, what Mrs Hillridge might tell her own mother about all of this.

But that wasn't her biggest concern right now. To be honest, she was almost hoping her mom would find out through someone else, to save herself the job of confessing.

Across the room, her laptop sang a familiar little tune to indicate a new message on Friend Agenda.

Unfolding her legs and rising slowly from the bed, she walked hesitantly towards it and shook the mouse to wake up the screen.

She hadn't even realised that she'd left it switched on; and she was disheartened to see that this new message was just the latest in a long line of posts.

Okay, so Sam hadn't told her mom yet about what Lindsey had done.

She had, however, told the rest of the internet.

X x x

She continued to stare at the phone long after she had hung up; the irony of the ringtone dancing infuriatingly in her mind.

Okay, so she hadn't actually kissed Sara; but they'd come pretty damn close and there was no denying that she had liked the feelings coursing through her blood.

But the big question was why? And did Sara feel the same way?

After a long moment of deliberation, she had declined Sara's offer; not in the least because it seemed inappropriate to be considering her feelings for the brunette when her daughter was so deeply troubled right now.

However, much as she tried to keep her mind on what could be causing Lindsey to act out in this way, she could not keep her thoughts from returning to that heart-pounding moment when her lips had nearly brushed Sara's.

X x x

She was so lost in her own world as she sloped miserably through the near-empty corridor, she nearly jumped out of her skin when she swung herself into the locker room and practically collided with Sara.

"Oh." She squeaked, gripping the other woman's arms to steady herself. "Sorry."

Sara looked equally startled, although there was a mischievous sparkle in eyes at the same time.

"Hi." She greeted, biting back a smile when Catherine quickly released her and immediately put a safe distance between them. "How's Lindsey?"

"Honestly?" The older CSI sighed, opening her locker and sliding out of her jacket. "I couldn't tell you. She won't tell me anything about what's going on."

Sara moved around the bench and sat down, silently willing her friend to continue.

"I took her a drink and some food up last night, and tried to get her to talk. She practically threw me out. And today, after school, she went straight to Nancy's, so I haven't even seen her." She moped. "Honestly Sar, I don't know what to do anymore. She's just so angry and I don't know why."

"She's a teenager." Sara pointed out, somewhat unhelpfully. "They're all angry."

"Yeah, I know." Cath exhaled, dropping down beside her and dragging her hands through her hair. In the process of doing so, her arm brushed Sara's and she jumped again, her eyes wide with alarm. "Sorry." She mumbled, sliding further down the bench and clearing her throat awkwardly.

"Cat." Sara pressed softly, a bemused frown on her face at the reaction.

The strawberry-blonde tipped her face towards the ceiling, taking a few deep calming breaths.

"About ... last night." She said at last, her gaze tracking around the room, looking at everything except the person next to her.

"Yeah, I was going to ask you about that." Sara pursed her lips. "I, we..."

"It never happened." Cath jumped in, catching her eye for the briefest of seconds. Sara paused, clearly struggling with some internal deliberation.

"No." She agreed at last, a touch of sadness to her voice that wasn't there before. "No, it didn't."

"Things went too far, and that was probably my fault." Cath continued with what she hoped was a blasé shrug, pushing herself to her feet. "I'd had too much to drink and ...I'm sorry, I know I crossed a line and it was unprofessional and ..."

"Cat, it's okay." Sara rose to her feet as well, holding her hands up to silence her rambling. "You're right, nothing happened."

"Yeah, yeah exactly." Cath hummed, relief flooding her features despite her best efforts to disguise it.

Feeling uncomfortable enough right now, and well aware that the boys would be arriving any minute, Sara could only offer a tight smile as she shuffled around the bench into the still, deserted hallway.

Cath exhaled, closing her eyes and shaking her head. That hadn't been quite as smooth as she had intended.

She still hadn't figured out what she was going to do about Lindsey, and she didn't know why she was feeling this way about Sara; but one thing she did know was that this was the right decision. They worked together – anything else would just complicate things.

As for whether it was what she truly wanted - well, she just could not go there right now.

Either way, it was clear that that was how Sara wanted things to be; therefore that was how it had to be.

She closed her locker with a sharp slam and a resigned sigh, accepting that they had made the right decision, and made to leave; when another niggling through began to creep into her naturally suspicious mind. Those two dangerous words that would plague her for the remainder of the shift:

What if ...

What if Sara had only agreed to forget about it, because she thought that was what Catherine wanted?


	14. Chapter 14

As she ambled lazily up and down the platform, her hair whipping around her face from the whoosh of the departing trains, she cast another glance at the giant clock suspended from the ceiling and sighed.

A sharp whistle echoed off the cold stone walls of the station, causing her to wince. She hadn't got much sleep last night and the noise pierced her head like a thousand knives.

She spotted a nearby guard eyeing her cautiously and made a show of getting her train tickets out to check them in the hope that it would deter him from approaching her. It seemed to work, as he hooked his thumbs through his braces and ambled off to observe a group of suspicious looking teenagers instead.

Alone again on the near-empty platform, she took a deep breath and exhaled slowly.

She was not happy to be back so soon, although the irony of the situation had not escaped her notice. She couldn't wait to tell the guys about it: having to cut short a seminar on Fire Investigation due to an unexpected blaze breaking out in one of the conference rooms.

It was a shame. She had been enjoying being so close to the ocean again – it had been too long.

Still, despite the rude interruption to the course, she had learnt a lot of useful information that she could take back with her.

There was a particular piece regarding insect activity in fire-damaged corpses that she could not wait to share with Grissom; although it did strike her that the sponge-like entomologist probably already knew the information.

At least Greg would be happy to have her back again so soon. He hated being left behind without his favourite CSI for protection against the guys' incessant teasing.

Her idle musings were cut abruptly short by a scratchy, unintelligible service announcement being belted across the tannoy speakers.

As she tipped her head to the side, trying to make sense of the few words she managed to catch, something caught her eye across the platform.

The flash of dirty-blonde hair was unsettlingly familiar and her heart leapt to her throat.

"Lindsey?" She blinked. She knew for a fact that Catherine was at work right now, so if Lindsey was here, she was here alone.

Sure enough, as the teenager glanced around at the mention of her name, her eyes widened in horror. By the time Sara's reactions kicked in, she had already disappeared into the crowd.

X x x

Her first thought was not one that she could repeat out loud.

She recognised the voice instantly and her heart sank. There was no way that she could lie her way out of this – not to Sara, of all people.

Which meant there was only one thing to do: she was going to have to run for it.

Unfortunately for her, Sara was quicker and before she made it to the main exit a firm hand gripped her arm, dragging her to a halt.

"Hey, hey!" Sara pulled her back, catching her breath. Somehow, though she was baffled if she knew how, she had managed to outpace the younger girl successfully enough to catch up. "What's going on?"

For the first time, she noticed the bulging bag slung over Lindsey's shoulder.

"Get off me!" The child growled, attempting to free herself from the firm grip. Sara reluctantly released her arm, but just as quickly caught her hand and tugged her towards a nearby bench.

They were off the platform now, in the main station surrounded by shops and ticket information stands. Due to the early hour of day, there were still a few late-night travellers sleeping under benches, their heads propped up on bulky backpacks and their coiled bodies covered only by thin coats, if anything at all.

"Lindsey, what's going on?" Sara repeated, her tone softer this time. "Does your mom know you're here?"

Even if she hadn't already known the answer, the silence she received said enough. Realising that that was as much as she was going to get, she dropped her shoulders despondently.

"Okay, come on." She said quietly. "Let's get you back to Vegas."

"No." Lindsey wrenched herself free, stood up and took a step back. "I don't want to go back. You can't make me."

She didn't know why she thought she could get away with talking to the CSI like this, but her mouth seemed to be running of its own accord right now. However, to her surprise, Sara didn't grab her again. With her lips pursed in thought, she scanned the area and her gaze latched onto a nearby Burger King.

"Alright, just let me buy you something to eat?" She offered instead. "You must be starving."

Lindsey still looked uncertain, but it was clear from the torn expression on her face that Sara wasn't far off the mark with that assumption.

X x x

She could still feel Sara's eyes on her as she drained the last of her soda, but she found that it wasn't bothering her that much anymore.

The brunette hadn't said much, just watched her tucking into the food. She had only accepted the offer because it didn't seem she had a choice, but she realised now just how hungry she had been.

"Better?" Sara breathed at last. Lindsey shrugged, toying with the straw. "Good, time to go."

She grasped Lindsey's hand before she could contest it and dragged the sighing child through the station back towards the platform. They had already missed the first train, but there should be another one arriving soon.

She had already decided that she would just buy Lindsey a ticket on the train, rather than risk losing sight of her while attempting to buy one at the desk.

As they stalked across the bustling station they passed a woman with a small toddler straining on baby reigns, and it took all of Sara's self-control not to steal them and strap her reluctant new charge into them.

Teenage reigns. She could make a fortune.

By the time they located the correct platform, the train was just pulling in and Sara bundled Lindsey onto it hurriedly. Blissfully, they managed to find two seats together and she planted Lindsey in the window seat – lest the kid was planning an elaborate escape.

"Are you going to tell my mom?"

It was the first words that Lindsey had uttered since Sara had found her, and the vulnerability in her voice almost made Sara feel guilty about what she was doing. Almost.

"I have to." She confirmed softly. "Linds, why were you running away?"

Again, her only answer was a sullen silence. Lindsey was downright refusing to meet her gaze.

"Alright, that's okay." Sara breathed, settling back in her seat. "You don't have to tell me."

She paused, letting Lindsey relax just a little as the train began to roll slowly out of the dim station into the bright morning sunshine.

"But I still need to call your mother."

"Sara, please…"

"Hey, believe me I don't want to do this." She promised. "Your mom doesn't exactly subscribe to the idea of 'don't shoot the messenger'."

That, at least, brought a small smile to Lindsey's lips; although it quickly vanished again and they fell back into an uncomfortable silence.

Sara _was_ going to call Catherine, even though it was not a task she relished doing, but she was going to wait until they had cleared a couple of stations first. Until they were coursing through the vast, vacant fields of the California countryside.

Until there was nowhere for Lindsey to run away to anymore.

X x x

"Yeah?" Catherine droned lazily into the phone, too tired to offer any kind of professional greeting after the hellish shift she had endured.

"_Hey Cath_."

"Sara?" She frowned, confusion evident in her voice. "Everything okay? I thought you were meant to be in California."

"_Yeah, I was. I got an earlier flight_." The brunette cleared her throat. "_Listen Cat … are you sitting down_?"

"Why?" She enquired suspiciously and Sara could practically see the deep frown embedding itself in her forehead.

"_I just don't want you to freak out_." Sara pursed her lips. At the impatient noise Catherine emitted, she took a deep breath. "_Lindsey's fine_."

It took a few seconds for that to sink in, as Cath slowly removed her glasses and sat forward in her chair.

"What?"


	15. Chapter 15

Sara's heart twisted with every increasingly pitiful look she received as they passed from the luscious greenery of California into the barren Nevada desert. Lindsey's depressed sighs were the only sounds between them, even as they departed the station and clamboured into a taxi bound for the lab.

However, whatever guilt Sara had been feeling dissipated upon seeing the look of sheer relief on Catherine's face as they strode into the reception area.

Lindsey had her head ducked, so missed the mutter of "thank goodness" before Cath gripped her firmly by the shoulders and demanded to know what she was thinking.

"I'm sorry." It was the only answer she could muster; though, to be fair, it summed up what she was thinking pretty well. She _was_ sorry.

She was sorry that she had hurt her best friend. She was sorry that she was such a screw up.

She was sorry that she was even born.

When it became apparent that that was the only response she was going to get from the sullen teenager right now, Catherine exhaled and turned her attention to Sara. There

"Thank you." She breathed, barely concealing the fault in her voice. "For bringing her back."

X x x

"You know, when I was fourteen I crashed my dad's car into a ditch." Nick confessed with a bashful grin. "I thought he was going to kill me so I l denied all knowledge for about a week, until I cracked and 'fessed up."

"Well, I'll be sure to keep my car keys hidden then." Catherine hummed half-heartedly, stirring her already-cold coffee idly with the handle of a tea spoon.

"Oh, I'm sure Lindsey would never do anything like that." The Texan assured her hurriedly, realising his mistake. They were meant to be reassuring her, not putting worse ideas in her head.

Fortunately, Cath's lips twitched into a tiny smile and, despite the sadness written all over her expression there was a twinkle of mischief in her blue eyes.

"I meant from you."

Warrick chuckled, glad that the strawberry-blonde hadn't completely lost her sense of humour despite the sordid events taking place in her daughter's life.

"Cath, whatever's going on in Lindsey's life, I'm sure she'll come to you about it eventually." The dark-skinned CSI tried to appease her. "You just got to give her some time. I know I used to wait until I had no other option before I told my grandmother anything."

She smiled weakly, too stressed to even pretend that she believed him.

"Yeah, and she's a smart kid." Nick added optimistically. "She wouldn't get involved in anything bad – it's probably just normal teenage girl stuff." He scrunched up his nose, unsure even as he spoke that he wanted to go down this route. Despite growing up with six older sisters, the inner workings of teenage girls were still very much a mystery to him and he'd like to keep it that way.

Grissom's head appeared around the doorframe, a sceptical eyebrow already raised before anyone could even offer an excuse for their extended break.

"Don't you all have something to be doing?" He enquired bluntly, clearly in no mood to inquire as to what had caused the downcast mood occupying the break room.

"Yeah, yeah my stolen Cadillac's on its way in now." Nick answered absently, barely sparing the boss a glance as he moved to take another mouthful of his coffee.

"Whenever you're ready fellas." Gil breathed exasperatedly, throwing his hands out to the sides.

Getting the hint, the boys finally hauled themselves up from the couch and sloped into the hallway.

Sara made to follow them, but found herself tugged backwards by the back of her shirt. When she turned, Catherine was staring at her with wide, uncertain eyes.

"Thank you, again." She cleared her throat nervously, toying anxiously with a loose thread on her long sleeves.

"You don't have to thank me." Sara smiled warmly. "I was hardly going to just leave her there was I?" She joked softly.

Cath shook her head, a perplexed frown on her face.

"No, I don't mean that." She murmured. "I mean for everything. You've been amazing through all of this – I don't know what I'd have done without you."

To Sara's growing panic, silent tears began to creep down Catherine's pale face. She knew this woman well enough to know that she was far too proud to cry in front of her colleagues, so this was beyond unexpected.

Catherine, too, was very aware of where they were and the embarrassment of getting upset in such a public place was making things a whole lot worse; so Sara did the only thing she could think of that might calm her friend down.

She dragged her into a hug and held the shaking frame as tight as she dared.

Catherine was surprised by the unprecedented show of affection from the brunette; but she responded to the embrace gratefully, burying her face in Sara's neck and clinging to her with all her limited strength.

"I'm sorry." She mumbled against the warm skin. "I don't know what's wrong with me."

"She's safe, that's all you need to remember right now." Sara promised.

"Yeah, well..." Cath choked out a dry laugh. "I'm not so sure anymore."

She had just about managed to get her hiccupped breathing back to normal, when her phone rang and she subconsciously cursed the inopportune timing of whoever was calling; reluctantly stepping out of the hug to extract the phone from her pocket.

"Oh God." She groaned at the familiar name flashing on the screen. "It's Lindsey's school."

X x x

"Ms Willows."

Phil Anderson's curt greeting was a sign of how the rest of the meeting was going to go. He only ever used a parent's surname if their child was in serious hot water.

"Phil." She nodded, dropping into the seat opposite his desk. "You wanted to talk to me about Lindsey? Is she okay?"

He shifted, clearly unsettled by whatever news he had to offer. Catherine had been concerned when she'd gotten the call, but now she was downright scared.

"Catherine," he cleared his throat. "I'm afraid this is very difficult for me to say and I wanted to discuss it with yourself before I brought Lindsey in."

"Is she in trouble?" The CSI asked, although the setup of the meeting had already pretty much confirmed that.

"I'm afraid it's a bit more than that." He pursed his lips. "Something has come to my attention and I understand that Lindsey is at the root of it."

"Phil, please." Cath practically begged, her emotions barely holding out anymore.

He produced a folder – unnervingly similar to the ones they used at the lab – and slipped it across the desk towards her.

"I warn you now, it's not going to be easy for you to see this."

With more than a hint of trepidation, Catherine took a deep breath and opened the folder.

For a second, she could have sworn she was looking at an evidence photo from a case she had worked last week. An aspiring teenage model had been kidnapped, raped and ultimately killed. Catherine had spent hours staring at the last photo shoot taken of her – although the poor girl hadn't been a willing participant.

"What is this?" She asked when it became apparent that the Principal was still waiting for her to say something.

"According to the teacher who brought this to my attention, that photo has been doing the rounds for the last few days. Someone posted it online."

Catherine flicked her eyes up, her expression contorting into a mask of badly-disguised horror.

"And by someone ... you mean, Lindsey?" She squeaked, trying and failing to keep her composure.

Phil's narrowed eyes softened and he dropped his shoulders sadly.

"I'm afraid so." He swallowed, shaking his head slowly. This was clearly not a task he relished anymore than she did. "I'm sorry Catherine, but in light of the circumstances I don't have a choice. I have to suspend Lindsey."


	16. Chapter 16

The front door slamming shut jolted her back to reality and Catherine rose instantly to her feet.

"Lindsey." She called, a distinctive waver to her voice despite continually telling herself that she was not going to crack in front of her daughter. "Come here, I need to talk to you."

"What's wrong?" The girl asked, tossing her bag onto the floor and sloping towards the couch at Cath's beckoning.

"Sit down." Catherine cleared her throat, waiting until Lindsey obliged before speaking again. Phil had agreed – after much pleading – not to initiate the suspension until tomorrow, giving Catherine a few hours to work out how she was going to deal with this. Not that it had left her feeling anymore prepared for what she was about to do. "Show me your phone."

"What?" Lindsey spluttered. She had figured from her mother's tone that she was in trouble, but that was not what she had been expecting. "Why?"

"Never you mind why." Cath answered easily. "I want to see your phone."

Lindsey continued to stare at her in bemusement, waiting for the punch line. However, at Cath's impatient raised eyebrow she reluctantly prised the device free from her jeans pocket and handed it over. Whatever was going on, she knew it couldn't be good.

Catherine skipped straight to the saved photos. The first one that came up was horrifyingly familiar and it took all of her self-control not to lose it then and there.

Turning the phone around, barely managing to keep her expression neutral, she held it up for Lindsey to see and watched with a twisted heart as all colour drained from the girl's face.

X x x

"I'm sorry."

She had uttered those words so many times in the last few minutes, they had lost all meaning.

"Lindsey … what were you thinking?" Catherine gasped, barely holding back the tears that were stinging at her eyes. "What on earth possessed you to do something like this?"

"I don't know." The girl sobbed, her carefully constructed walls having fallen apart as soon as the first whimpered apology left her lips. "I'm sorry, I screwed up." She balled her fists into her eyes, attempting to staunch the flood of tears.

With a helpless sigh, Catherine shuffled closer on the couch and dragged her into a tight hug.

"It's okay baby." She murmured, pressing a kiss into soft blonde hair.

Lindsey curled against her, hiccupped cries wrenching themselves from her tiny frame and reverberating throughout Catherine's body.

Despite what that picture might suggest, there was still a little girl somewhere deep inside the young adult's body.

X x x

It had taken nearly two hours, but Catherine had finally managed to get Lindsey settled in bed with the promise of dealing with Samantha and her mother tomorrow. Not that she knew how they were going to do that.

Having made a quick call to her sister, she sank onto the couch, exhaustion taking over her whole body. It felt like she had aged ten years since this morning.

Her gaze fell automatically onto the mobile phone, still sitting innocently on the coffee table, and she snatched it up. Almost autonomously, she flicked back to the photo and swallowed hard around the lump that had materialised in her throat.

It made her sick to the stomach to think that the whole school had seen it.

Even she hadn't seen this much of her daughter's body in years; not since Lindsey turned into a self-conscious teenager and began closing the bedroom door when changing. She wasn't a child anymore, that was for sure.

In a brief fit of anger, she snapped it shut and threw it across the couch, watching it tumble off the edge onto the floor, where it disappeared under the table. With a shuddering breath, Catherine buried her face in her hands.

The first thing she was going to do tomorrow was get Lindsey a new phone – or rather an old one. One that made calls and text messages and nothing else. No camera, no internet, no nothing.

The laptop would have to go too. And that damn Friend Agenda account.

That's what had kicked this all off in the first place.

X x x

With the knowledge that Lindsey was tucked up safe in bed, under the watchful eyes of Nancy and Lily, Catherine figured there was nothing more she could do but go for a walk, to clear her head.

However, it seemed that further she walked the more confused everything seemed to get in her mind; until her thoughts were nothing more than a perplexing mix of fear and self-loathing.

At some point, although she could not tell you when, the heavens had opened. She only noticed when the cold from her wet clothes began seeping into her skin, until her blood felt like ice and her limbs became numb.

She looked up, her tears masked by the pouring rain, and blinked at the imposing building she had found herself standing beneath.

It was run down, in desperate need of some money spending on it; but there was something comforting and oddly familiar about being here.

She hadn't set off with the intention of arriving here. In truth, she hadn't set off with any intentions at all, but somehow it felt right that her walk had brought her here of all places.

X x x

Sara yanked the body-hugging sweater over her head, tousling her newly-dried hair as she made her way hurriedly to the front door.

"Alright, I'm coming." She muttered when the incessant knocking didn't cease.

She didn't really know who to expect when she peered through the peephole – she didn't exactly get a lot of guests. But she certainly wasn't expecting to see a dripping wet Catherine Willows on her doorstep, her shivering frame shrouded in the shadows of the dim hallway.

Swinging the door open, Sara automatically held her arms out.

"Cat, what's wrong?" She asked, concern written across her features.

Catherine lifted her head slowly and one glance into the deep hazel eyes staring back at her was enough to shatter her defensive façade to a million pieces.

With a choked sob, she collapsed forwards into Sara's open arms, burying her face in the brunette's neck and clinging to her with all her remaining strength.

Sara, too stunned for words, managed to walk them backwards far enough to close the door, before Catherine's weight pulled her down and the two of them ended up on the floor; with the strawberry-blonde's shaking body cradled awkwardly against Sara's chest.

"It's okay." Sara mumbled weakly, dragging her free hand through Catherine's tangled hair tenderly. "It's okay, I've got you."

X x x

"I've failed."

"You have not." Sara countered. She was busy filling up her kettle, but she didn't need to turn around to know that Catherine was shaking her head in utter loss.

She hadn't moved from the floor, but had at least managed to prop herself up against the wall. Her hair and clothes were still damp from the rain, not that it seemed to be bothering her too much.

But it was bothering Sara. She had felt how cold Cath was when she first arrived, and even from the kitchenette she could see the older woman shivering.

Leaving the kettle to boil, she disappeared into the bathroom and returned a few seconds later with a satin gown draped across her arm.

"Here." She cleared her throat. "You're drenched."

Catherine stared at it dumbly for a long moment, before realising what Sara was waiting for. She picked herself up on unsteady legs and shuffled into the bathroom to change.

As she peeled off her wet clothes and allowed them to drop onto the linoleum floor one at a time, she caught sight of herself in the mirror and emitted a sad sigh.

She looked a mess. Her hair was alternating between plastering itself to her face and sticking out at all angles. Her skin was pale and pasty, her eyes bloodshot and sunken into her worn-out face.

With a resigned shrug, she slipped the gown on over her bare skin, revelling in the soft, smooth feeling. She could see why Sara had bought this – it felt like she was wearing nothing but air.

At the same time, she couldn't help but feel a small thrill at wearing something that had undoubtedly been swathed across Sara's naked body at some point.

When she finally crept back into the main room of the flat, Sara was waiting for her patiently on the couch with two steaming mugs of tea.

"Thank you." Cath mumbled, sinking onto the furniture and tucking her legs beneath her. It felt oddly comfortable being so exposed in Sara's presence, although she still hadn't managed to pinpoint her unconscious reasons for coming here besides the obvious need for friendship and comfort.

"Are you okay?" Sara asked when she didn't speak again.

"No." She sniffed. "My daughter's sending naked pictures of herself to the entire school. So no, I'm not okay."

Sara nodded slowly, unperturbed by the attitude-laden response.

"How is Lindsey doing?"

"Not good." Cath shrugged meekly. "Her best friend isn't talking to her, she's suspended indefinitely. She's … humiliated."

"Yeah, I bet." Sara breathed. "Okay, well, I guess the first thing you have to decide is whether or not to change her school."

Catherine blinked, surprised by Sara's out loud musings. The idea of changing schools hadn't even crossed her mind.

With a helpless groan, she threw herself against the back of the couch and covered her face with her hands.

"Oh Sara, I don't even know where to begin with all of this."

"One step at a time." Sara assured her. "First things first, you need to cut yourself a break. You're a great mom – none of this is your fault."

At Catherine's dismissive grunt, Sara took hold of her hands and physically turned her around to face her.

"Cath, you are a great mother. One day, Lindsey will see that."

Catherine seemed to stare at her for an eternity before, without warning, she darted forwards and caught Sara's lips in a firm kiss.

Sara could taste the salt from her tears, but as she tried to pull away she felt Cath's hands grip the front of her sweater, holding her in place as a velvet tongue crept into her mouth hungrily seeking out her own.


	17. Chapter 17

Catherine stirred, shuffling and wriggling beneath the silky sheets. She tried fruitlessly to open her eyes, but they felt like they were weighted down with lead. After a few attempts to blink away the sleep, the world slowly began to swim into focus.

Sitting up stiffly, she scanned the flat with bemusement.

She was still in Sara's home. In fact, she was still in Sara's robe – in her bed, no less.

The events of the evening before flooded back to her in a rush of humiliation and shame. She had kissed her subordinate. Not only had she kissed her, she had stuck her tongue down her throat, and then tried to run away.

In a bath robe and all.

Sara had caught her, thankfully, before she disappeared out of the flat. She could still feel the woman's strong arms wrap around her stomach and pull her back.

After that, all she remembered was crying.

Finally feeling a little more alert after the nauseating realisations sank in, she sat up and scanned the flat; and was visibly startled to find Sara watching her cautiously from the kitchenette. The brunette was leaning across the counter, nursing a mug of something that smelt strong and bitter.

"Hey." She greeted calmly. If her appearance and husky voice were anything to go by, she hadn't slept; which made sense, since Catherine was in her bed. Casting a glance at the sun streaming through the large balcony windows, Cath established it must be just past dawn.

"Hi." She squeaked. "What time is it?"

"Early." Sara confirmed her assumption, ambling across the flat and proffered a glass of water.

"Have you got anything stronger?" Cath joked softly, accepting the drink with both hands and taking a long sip to sooth her dry throat.

Sara didn't laugh, too busy scrutinising her friend.

"Are you feeling better?" She asked at last, perching on the edge of the bed – ensuring to keep enough distance between them not to crowd Catherine. The strawberry blonde pulled her knees up to her chest beneath the sheets, releasing a deep breath.

"Honestly, no." She acknowledged truthfully. "But thanks, for letting me stay." She paused, her eyes widening slowly as the reality of what time it was properly sank in. "Work?"

"Don't worry about it." Sara brushed her concern off. "I called Grissom, told him that I had an emergency to deal with and I needed your help."

"Did he buy it?" Cath inquired, surprised by Sara's laissez-faire response.

"I doubt it." She shrugged. "But we'll deal with him later."

Truthfully, Sara knew full well that Grissom hadn't bought it. The clincher had come when he'd asked to speak to Catherine and Sara had had to come up with a quick excuse as the why the woman – supposedly standing beside her – could not come to the phone.

Catherine's lips twitched into a smile and she nodded slowly.

"Thank you." She mumbled sheepishly. "I'm sorry about dropping all of this on you."

"Don't worry about it." Sara promised, standing up. "Your clothes are dry – they're in the bathroom when you want them." She paused, a mischievous glint flickering in her eyes for just a second. "Assuming you were planning on getting dressed before trying to leave this time."

X x x

The taxi's breaks squealed as the vehicle came to a bumpy stop outside her house.

She had declined Sara's offer of a ride home, fearing the awkward silence that would undoubtedly have plagued such a drive.

She had, however, gratefully accepted Sara's offer to spring for a cab to take her home; with the promise of returning the fare to her despite Sara's assurance that it wasn't necessary.

Now she just had to think up an explanation for why she had been gone all night.

Sure enough, as she crept through the front door, her mother and sister materialised in the hallway like vultures swooping to pounce on an injured rodent.

"Where have you been?" Lily demanded.

"I …"

"We called the lab." Nancy chimed in before she could answer, looking less worried and more suspicious than their mother. "They said you weren't there. That you hadn't been in all night."

"No." Cath straightened up, attempting to exude a blasé confidence in her words. "I was at Sara's."

"Sara?" Nancy frowned. "Why?"

"I needed to think." She shrugged, brushing past them and pretending to check her answer machine for messages.

"Right." The younger sibling drawled sceptically, her eyebrows raised in that telltale Flynn gesture of disbelief. "Okay, I have to go to work."

"Okay, bye." Catherine stated bluntly, keeping her back turned. She could fob her mother off easily enough, but her sister knew all too well when she was lying and that was a conversation she could do without right now.

With a heavy sigh, Nancy grabbed her bag and bid a slightly more affectionate goodbye to the older woman.

As the front door swung closed behind her, Catherine finally turned back around to find her mom staring at her with an unreadable expression.

"What?" She asked hoarsely, too drained for politeness.

Wordlessly, Lily shook her head slowly in clear disappointment and strode past her into the lounge, leaving Catherine standing helplessly alone at the bottom of the stairs.

She turned to stare morosely up the staircase at Lindsey's closed bedroom door.

Lily may well have cause to be disappointed in her, but she was not the only person Catherine had let down lately.

X x x

Lindsey shuffled, kicking out at the tangled web of blankets that had wrapped themselves around her legs during her restless night's sleep.

She rubbed her eyes, finally managing to blink them open, and gasped in surprise to find her mother watching her carefully from the end of the bed.

"Hey." Catherine greeted softly. Lindsey sat up, scanning the room hazily. It didn't take her acute eyes long to spot that her laptop had vanished from the desk.

Catherine saw her resigned expression and followed her line of sight to the empty space.

"It's downstairs, under lock and key." She explained. "You'll get it back when I decide you can."

Lindsey nodded glumly, pulling her knees up to her chest. Cath was almost surprised that she didn't put up more of an argument – but then she didn't really look like she had the strength to fight right now.

"I'm sorry." The girl sniffed. "I know I messed up."

"Yeah, you did." Cath breathed, throwing her head back. "But you're not the only one. And we're going to fix it."

"How?"

"Honestly, I don't know." She offered a meek smile, reaching out a hand and waiting for Lindsey to accept it tentatively. "But we'll figure something out."

X x x

"Hey, Sara!"

The brunette skidded to a halt, spinning on her heel.

"Hey." She smiled, waiting for Catherine to catch her up. "How is she?"

"She's … she's dealing." Cath sighed, following the brunette into the locker room, which was blissfully empty. "I've confiscated her computer, her phone, her freedom … pretty much everything she cares about, for the foreseeable future anyway. I tried talking to Samantha's mother today, but there was no answer on the home phone."

"You'll get it sorted." Sara assured her. "It's going to take some time to fix, but it's doable."

Catherine barely seemed to be listening, as she wrung her hands nervously.

"I wanted to say thank you, for last night." She cleared her throat. "And I wanted to apologise, for … you know."

"It's okay." Sara failed to suppress her smile, but her gaze remained soft and reassuring. "Don't worry about it."

Cat nodded slowly, pursing her lips. She had been considering exactly what she wanted to say to Sara all day, but now she was actually in front of the woman she suddenly felt shy.

"I meant everything I said last night you know." She hummed. "Everything."

Sara scrutinised her closely, her eyes dancing with something mysterious and illegible.

"Let's get Lindsey sorted first." She pointed out gently. "There's plenty of time for … everything else."

Catherine's face lit up and she barely managed to hide a smile.

"So, I haven't screwed everything up between us?" She asked coyly.

"No, you haven't." Sara laughed, moving around the bench and leaning in to place a feather-light peck on her blushing cheek. "And I'm not going anywhere."

Catherine watched her sashay out of the room, pinning her lower lip between her teeth bashfully.

"Good." She whispered to the empty room.


	18. Chapter 18

Catherine had never been so aware of her own breathing before, as she focussed all her attention on each deep, calming breath.

Despite her resolute determination to remain composed, her heart went haywire as soon as the door blew open and the other party to this little intervention stalked in.

She attempted to offer a rueful smile at Julie Hillrdige, but it was met with a steely glower.

She could say with complete honesty that she had not felt this ill at ease since she herself was a sullen teenager being summoned into the Principal's office. She couldn't even begin to imagine how Lindsey must be feeling right now.

Sneaking a glance at her daughter's face, she found the girl staring at her hands clasped tightly in her lap. Samantha, having sat down directly across from her, was delivering looks that could almost scorch skin. Lindsey seemed determined not to see them, although there was little doubt that she could feel them.

That said, they were nothing in comparison to the looks Catherine herself was receiving.

The door creaked open again and Phil Anderson strode inside, taking a moment to survey the silent standoff before clearing his throat.

"Alright." He sighed tiredly, sounding nearly as reluctant as Catherine was to go through with this. "Let's see what we can do about this."

Cath reached under the table and gripped Lindsey's hands, preparing herself for battle.

Her child might be in the wrong here, but she wasn't going to let that stop her from putting up a sterling fight.

X x x

"It was hell." She muttered, shaking her head; which lay heavily in her hands, her elbows propped up on the kitchen table. "It was absolute, utter hell."

"Well, you knew it wasn't going to be easy." Nancy mused, placing a mug of coffee in her line of sight and sliding into the spare seat.

"She's suspended indefinitely." Catherine breathed, straightening up and accepting the drink, just so she had something to hold. "So even if she wanted to change schools, I doubt anywhere would take her."

"Does she want to?"

"I don't know." Cath whined helplessly. "I think she just wants everything to go back to normal again."

"Well," Nancy laughed bitterly. "I think it's a little late for that."

The callous words, echoing those of Sam's mother, caused a chill to ricochet up Catherine's spine and settle in her chest.

She turned in her seat to look out of the glass doors across the garden, to where Lindsey and Jeremy were lounged on the patio. Even from this distance, she could see the spark had vanished from her daughter's eyes.

Even more troubling was the realisation that she couldn't actually remember the last time she had seen it there.

"Yeah," she mumbled sadly. "Tell me about it."

X x x

"Do you want to play a video game?"

It was a last ditch attempt, but since every other offer he'd extended had been shot down with a half-hearted grunt, he'd run out of ideas.

"Lindsey." He groaned exasperatedly when she continued to ignore him, throwing his head back towards the cloudless sky. "What _do_ you want to do?"

Finally, she flicked her empty blue eyes to his face.

"I want to go back in time and stop myself from ever making that stupid profile."

The boy stared at her for a long, silent moment. Of the two of them, Lindsey had always been the strongest. She was the boisterous one, the one who took charge when things went wrong.

She was the leader. And now, she seemed to be almost looking to him to give her an answer that he just didn't have.

"Yeah, well." He shrugged awkwardly. "It could have been worse. At least Sam didn't slap you."

It was meant at least partially in jest, but neither smiled.

"She wanted to." Lindsey moped. "I almost wish she had. It might have made her feel a bit better to get her own back on me."

"Oh, I think she's taken care of that already, on Friend Agenda."

He knew as soon as the words left his lips that it was a mistake. Lindsey's eyes flashed to his own, wide and inquisitive.

"Why? What are they saying?"

"Nothing." He lied. "It's ... it's not that bad, really."

"Jem." She scowled, reaching out for his phone, which he held protectively against his chest. "Show me."

"I ..." he cast a nervous glance at the closed kitchen door, where he knew his mother and Aunt Catherine were probably watching them like hawks from the table. "I can't."

"Of course you can." She countered, following his line of sight and lowering her voice – not that they could have heard them through the glass anyway. "If they ask, just tell them you're showing me a photo or something."

Jeremy gave his cousin a withering look.

"Isn't a photo what caused all of this in the first place?"

Realising that bullying would get her nowhere this time, she changed tack and issued him with the most pitiful look she could; a feat that didn't take much effort given her current mood.

He tried desperately to resist the trick, but both knew that the outcome was inevitable.

"I'm going to be in so much trouble." He murmured, reluctantly releasing the device into her eager hands.

"Relax, if they find out I won't tell them it was you who let me back on."

"Yeah, like they wouldn't work it out." He muttered, shooting another furtive glance at the house.

She ignored him, too focused on the small screen.

Say what you want about social networking sites, but they certainly knew what they were doing when it came to the intricate game of human patience vs. technology.

It had taken the best part of twenty minutes to figure out how to close her account down; at her mother's insistence of course.

It took her all of twenty seconds to re-activate it.

X x x

"What have you done?"

Catherine started out of her thoughts, shaking her head in a vain attempt to clear the fog. She'd fallen so deep into her musings; she'd almost forgotten that she wasn't alone.

"What?"

"You've got that look," Nancy hummed, narrowing her eyes.

"What look?"

"That look that means you've done something you shouldn't have." The younger sister paused, pursing her lips tightly. "Or some_one_ you shouldn't have."

Catherine felt her cheeks flush at the comment and submerged her gaze into the blackness of her coffee. Evidently, without her even realising, her private thoughts had found a way to manifest their way onto her face.

"I don't know what you mean."

Nancy continued to appraise her suspiciously.

"The other night ... you weren't at Sara's at all were you?" She challenged. "Where did you go?"

"I told you, I was at Sara's." Cath argued, her voice trembling despite the simple truth in her words.

"Yeah, sure." Nancy scoffed. "I don't believe you – your daughter's going through hell and you're off sleeping your way around the city."

"Hey!" Catherine snapped, affronted. "I told you, I was with Sara. Call and ask her if you don't believe me."

Nancy chewed silently on the inside of her cheek for a long moment, considering the suggestion.

She always could tell when Catherine was lying to her, and somehow she didn't think she was lying about this. Normally if the older Flynn was caught in a lie, she would get sassy or coy; but now she was just downright defensive.

Then again, she still had that guilty look written all over her features. She had definitely done something wrong.

Cath shifted under her sister's scrutiny, praying to every deity on earth that she wouldn't make the connection.

And she knew the exact moment that the penny dropped.

X x x

It was still early, with the sun barely peeping over the horizon as the car cruised up the quiet residential street and turned onto the increasingly familiar driveway.

Sara climbed out, ensuring to close the door as quietly as possible so as not to wake the neighbours.

She was less concerned about the resident of this particular house, however. She was pretty certain they would be up – which was why she hadn't bothered phoning ahead.

Sure enough, as she rounded the vehicle and began to amble up the drive, she found herself being watched curiously from the front porch.

Catherine was draped across the wooden railing, a coffee in one hand and half a cigarette in the other, a thin wisp of grey smoke swirling upwards and vanishing into the clear, purple sky.

"Hey?" She blinked.

"Hi, I thought you quit?" Sara nodded to the illicit vice pinned between her fingers.

"I relapsed, so shoot me." The strawberry-blonde drawled, snuffing the cigarette out and tossing it into her flowerbed. "I wasn't expecting to see you today."

"We missed you at work." Sara explained with a non-judgemental shrug. She didn't elaborate who 'we' was, but Cath chose to believe that she was speaking in singular anyway.

For the first time, she noticed the box in Sara's hands, the recognizable logo dancing temptingly across the baby-pink cardboard. Sara spotted her eyes shift to it and her smile grew. "I thought you might want some company." She elaborated, waving them playfully just out of her friend's reach.

Cath mirrored her grin, straightening up.

"Well, I'd better make some more coffee then."

X x x

"I guess I didn't feel like working last night." She explained, placing two matching mugs on the table and sliding into a seat. The box of muffins remained unopened between them, neither wanting to be the first to dive in.

"I figured." Sara nodded. "How is she dealing with it?"

"What?" Cath gulped, her stomach knotting instinctively before she realised that Sara was talking about Lindsey. "Oh, right, yeah." She cleared her throat, sensing the brunette frowning in obvious puzzlement at her odd reaction to the question. "She hasn't really said much. The school are taking Sam's side, so she's feeling a bit jaded I think."

"Yeah, she will." Sara hummed, passing her drink between her hands idly. "What about you? How are you doing?"

"Oh, I'm fine." Cath breathed faux-nonchalantly. "My kid's falling apart at the seams, my mother won't speak to me and my sister..."

She trailed off, catching herself before she said something she might regret. Thankfully, Sara took her abrupt muteness as a sign despair rather than panic and reached out to grip her hand.

"Don't worry about them." She chastised softly. "Focus on Lindsey. And on yourself – you're no good to her if _you're_ falling apart."

Catherine shifted her gaze from the hand resting on her own, to the hazel eyes regarding her warmly, and she smiled.

Nancy had said that she was an idiot. That she was being selfish and had no idea what kind of a mistake she would be making if she followed these feelings. And by the end of her sister's tirade Cath had actually started to believe that she was right.

But looking at Sara now, she almost didn't care.


	19. Chapter 19

**Thanks for your patience guys, have been having a pretty hard time of it lately but will do my best to keep on top of updates**

**x x x x**

"Catherine!"

She winced at the voice bellowing her name, realising before she had even stood up that this was not a conversation she was going to relish. She poked her head out of the kitchen, one eyebrow raised in a mildly concerned expression.

"Mom?" She greeted cautiously. "What's wrong?"

"Come here." The older woman beckoned, having planted herself in the middle of the living room with no obvious intention of moving anytime soon.

As Cath crept into the room, she was surprised to find that her mother had not descended alone; Nancy was lurking in the threshold.

"Nance." She greeted, suspicion overtaking her concern. "What's up?"

"Tell mom what you told me."

Catherine flicked her eyes to Lily's face, though the steely expression gave very little away.

"Tell me it's not true." Her mother practically begged, shaking her head slowly.

"I…" Cath stuttered, unable to coherently form a proper sentence. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Lily scoffed, clearly disbelieving of the feeble response. However, when she spoke again her words were eerily calm.

"Are you sleeping with Sara?"

The question hit Catherine square in the stomach and she visibly recoiled.

"What?" She gasped, whirled towards her sister. "What have you been telling her?"

"Only what you told me."

"I am not _sleeping_ with her." She practically spat, her voice rising insolently with each word.

"You stayed the night." Nancy pointed out bluntly.

"So?" She barked, throwing her hands out defensively. "You know what, I don't have to justify myself to you. Either of you."

"Catherine … whatever you think you're feeling for this girl, you know it's not right, don't you?" Lily asked, stepping closer with her arms outstretched.

"Not right?" The CSI blinked, stunned. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

"Catherine, she's over ten years younger than you." Nancy raised her eyebrows. "And she's a _woman_. Or had that escaped your notice?"

"No, it hadn't." Cath snapped bitterly. "But you know something; she's the only person who's actually trying to help _me_. Instead of judging me for everything that's happened."

"Are you sure that's all she's trying to do?" Lily challenged.

"No, she's not like that." Catherine frowned, ambling to the couch and dropping heavily into the faux leather, dragging a hand through her hair. "Sara's the one who suggested we cool things until everything with Lindsey's sorted."

"Oh, how gallant of her." Nancy muttered, beginning to pace.

Catherine looked up, her eyes glistening with angry tears.

"Hey, like I said – I don't have to justify myself to you."

Flicking her eyes between her two daughters, Lily dropped her shoulders and turned reluctantly towards the door.

"Well, I just hope that you know what you're doing." She sighed despondently. "Because I certainly don't."

X x x

Sara suspected that she already knew who was hammering on her door before she even reached it.

Sure enough, as she peered through the crack, she found Catherine Willows staring back at her.

"Hey." She smiled, opening it fully.

"Hi, I hope I'm not interrupting?" The waver in her voice was undeniably cute; even more so as she attempted to peer around the doorframe into the apartment.

"Not at all, come in." Sara held the door open, expecting Cath to brush past her into the flat. But instead the strawberry-blonde stepped right into Sara's personal space and pressed a desperate kiss to her lips.

Sara placed her hands on the woman's shoulders, gently pushing her away.

"Cat?" She queried, clearing her dry throat meekly. "What's going on?"

"I need you Sara." The words came out rushed, breathless, and not at all as smooth and romantic as she had intended.

"Are you sure about this?" Sara asked, sidling around her colleague to close the front door and using the opportunity to clamp down on the surging lust rising from the pit of her stomach.

Catherine gripped her hand, turning her around and searching her face with a hungry desperation.

"You're the best thing in my life right now." She gasped, her hands finding their way beneath Sara's shirt of their own accord and tracing the sensitive skin at the base of her spine. "I'm tired of waiting for it."

X x x

She saw him before he saw her. He was sitting on the wall, idly swinging his legs and checking his phone intermittently between impatient sighs.

Taking a deep breath, Lindsey squared her shoulders and strode purposefully towards him.

Unfortunately, she was so focussed on where she was heading, she wasn't looking at where she was going and tripped on an uneven paving stone, stumbling clumsily into a railing.

It was at that point that he looked up and spotted her. Hopping down, he stuffed his hands in his pockets and waited for her to reach her.

"Hey Lindsey." He nodded in greeting, his expression stony and uncharacteristically cold. "What's up?"

"Hi, Scott." She murmured nervously, glancing around them as if she expected someone to jump out with a camera.

Given her recent notoriety, it was not such a silly fear.

"Well?" He pressed when she didn't say anything else. "You said that you wanted to meet, and I'm here. What's going on?"

"Yeah, I wanted to talk to you." She said at last, licking her lips. "It's about Samantha."

X x x

Catherine frowned, scrunching her nose up as she began to stir. Even without opening her eyes, she knew instantly where she was due to the familiar scent drifting from the satin sheets she was currently cocooned in.

It was sweet, fruity and a little bit exotic: it was undeniably Sara Sidle.

She felt something soft brush her cheek and smiled.

"Hi." She crooned sleepily, blinking her blue eyes open.

However, the sight that met her was not quite what she expected to see.

A little pink nose was barely touching her own and a set of sharp claws were poised inches from her face.

A strangled gasp escaped her throat as she shuffled as far away as the restrictive sheets would allow.

An amused chuckle drew her attention across the flat and Sara wandered into her line of sight with a toothbrush in her mouth.

"Bandit." She laughed, leaning across the bed to scoop the cat up while Catherine struggled to get her breath back.

She set him on the floor, but he quickly jumped back up and settled on Catherine's legs, staring at her with his head cocked to the side. She reached out tentatively to pet his furry head.

The brunette re-emerged from the bathroom, sans toothbrush this time, and ambled into the kitchen. She looked effortlessly relaxed, dressed in dark flared jeans and a floaty long-sleeved top.

Armed with a well-stocked tray of food, she wandered back to the bed and carefully placed it on Catherine's lap.

"What's this?" The blonde asked dumbly, blinking at the assortment of pastries and snacks.

"Breakfast." Sara smiled brightly, casting a brief glance at the clock. "Well, dinner."

Catherine's lips spread into a bashful grin and she gladly snatched up a piece of toast.

"Thank you." She mumbled.

"You're welcome." Sara leant forwards, pressing a kiss to her forehead. She let her lips linger for a moment longer than necessary, one hand lightly stroking the older woman's silky hair. When she finally pulled back, there was a mischievous glint dancing in her hazel orbs. "I figured you might need to build your strength up … after this afternoon."

Catherine stilled before taking a bite, just long enough to smack her lightly on the arm before she could move out of reach.

"Cheeky." She muttered playfully, barely suppressing the butterflies in her stomach at watching Sara sashay teasingly across the flat.


	20. Chapter 20

**For those new to my writing, italics indicate flashbacks :)**

**x x x x**

_She was so caught up in the kiss, she barely noticed the warm hands grazing her hips; until they slipped effortlessly underneath her shirt and pushed it off her shoulders. _

_Her own actions were much less graceful, as her trembling fingers fumbled hurriedly with the button on Sara's jeans. _

_The brunette carefully prised her away, taking care of the issue for her. _

_Before she could catch her breath back, Catherine found herself being pushed gently towards the bed. She grabbed at Sara's waist, pulling her down as well. _

_Blanketed by the younger woman's body, Catherine arched into her touch, attempting to get as much physical contact with her as physically possible. _

"_Oh God." She gasped, throwing her head back into the mattress. Sara's hand slipped beneath her neck, deftly coaxing her further up the bed. _

_However, Catherine used her moment of distraction to turn the tables on her. _

_Using her whole weight, she flipped them over and pinned her companion to the bed by her slender wrists. Sara blinked in surprise, as Catherine grinned down at her with a sultry smile. _

"_Too slow." She murmured, leaning down to capture her lips again in a kiss equally as fiery as their first. _

_She felt, rather than heard, Sara moan into the embrace and reciprocated in kind; dragging her nails lightly down the girl's chest and stomach until she reached her goal. _

"_Catherine…" Sara managed to gasp with the last remaining dregs of her cognitive thought. "Are you sure you want to do this?"_

_Cath stilled just long enough to meet her gaze, her blue eyes practically smouldering with desire. _

"_Sara … Stop talking."_

X x x

The memory continued to plague her, no matter how much she tried to keep her mind focussed on the task at hand.

Of course, it didn't help that Sara was wearing that skin-tight emerald green top that brought out the gold flecks in her eyes and hugged every single curve in just the right place.

Those same delicate curves that Catherine had traced with her lips just a few hours ago.

"Catherine?" Nick queried brusquely, snapping her rudely back to reality.

"What?" She blinked, her vision coming rapidly back into focus.

To her embarrassment, although not great surprise, the boys were staring at her in bemusement.

"You okay?" Warrick asked, concern flooding his handsome features.

"Yeah, I'm fine." She shook her head, trying fruitlessly not to catch sight of the knowing smile dancing on Sara's lips.

She could not believe that she had been caught leering at her colleague … at work.

Over the photos of a murder victim, of all things.

"So," she cleared her throat nervously, attempting to shift the heat off of herself. "What do we know?"

The boys exchanged perplexed looks at their supervisor's odd behaviour, before Nick straightened up to offer his findings.

"The girl was walking home alone from a friend's house …"

Catherine never even heard the rest of his sentence, her gaze drifting of its own accord across the table once again.

X x x

When the door actually opened, Lindsey felt for one brief second that she might at least have the chance to make some progress here.

However, one look into Sam's stony eyes and that hope was shot down in flames.

"What?" The blonde barked harshly. It felt like an age since Lindsey had last seen her friend; between the lack of make-up and the unseasonably heavy sweater, she barely even recognised her.

"I…" She attempted to speak but her throat had closed up. "I wanted to speak to you." She managed to stutter eventually. "Please?"

Samantha glanced behind her into the house, clearly debating whether or not to let her in. After an agonisingly long moment, she seemed to have made her decision and opened the door a little further, allowing Lindsey to slip inside.

She couldn't help being painfully aware of the fact that she was asking permission to enter her best friend's house. A couple of weeks ago, she would have been welcome to walk in unannounced.

Once in the living room, there were no pleasantries. Sam stood in the threshold with her arms folded, waiting impatiently for her to get to the point.

"I talked to Scott." Lindsey cleared her throat. "I told him everything. I told him that it was all me and you had nothing to do with it."

Sam stared at her blankly for a few seconds, her expression showing nothing of her feelings under the skin. Lindsey had always been able to read her like a book, but right now it was like looking at a complete stranger.

"So, you think that makes it okay?" Sam asked rhetorically after a moment. "I don't care about Scott, Lindsey. I don't care about anything anymore!" She spat bitterly. "You've ruined my life!"

"I'm sorry." Lindsey choked, tears welling up in her eyes. She hadn't expected to be welcomed with open arms, but she had in the very least expected some small amount of gratitude for her gesture. "I don't know what else you want me to say?"

They stared at each other across the room, a gaping cavernous hole sitting between them where their friendship currently lay in tatters.

Finally, Sam dropped her head.

"I want you to get out." She answered emotionlessly, turning her back.

Lindsey stared at her, not moving, until it dawned on her that she was essentially being disregarded. With a helpless sigh, she dropped her shoulders and sloped towards the door.

She paused, raising a hand towards Samantha's shoulder, before letting it fall resignedly back to her side.

X x x

She took a deep, shuddering breath, dragging both hands through her hair before holding herself up on the sink again.

She was exhausted, not in the least due to her earlier athletic activities; and try as she might, her mind just would not focus on anything today.

The door to the bathroom opened and Catherine dropped her head, willing whoever it was to ignore her presence. No such luck, as careful footsteps approached her cautiously and stopped just behind her.

"Hey," a soft voice called out. "You okay?"

Catherine looked up, catching sight of Sara's reflection in the mirror.

"Yeah," she breathed, spinning on her heels and leaning her back against the sinks. "I'm just trying to make sense of this case."

"You want to talk it out?" Sara offered, moving to lounge casually by her side. Catherine exhaled slowly.

"15 year old girl was raped and murdered walking home from a friend's house. She was jumped a few feet from her front door, walking down the alley that her parents forbid her from using." She paused, cocking her head to the side. "Crime of opportunity?"

"Or someone was watching and knew that she walked that way every evening." Sara added. "Her best friend did say that she used to visit every night after school, it's possible that we're looking for a neighbour here."

When Cath didn't respond to her theory, she shot a look at her face. The strawberry-blonde was frowning, her lips pursed in thought. Reaching out, Sara slipped her hand into the older woman's, getting her attention.

"Cat, you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm just …" Catherine threw her head back, before pushing herself off the counter and leaning heavily against Sara's chest. Sara wrapped her arms around her, pressing a light kiss to her cheek. Cath sighed against her neck, nestling into the protective hug. "It's just, with everything that's going on with Lindsey … I suppose it could be a lot worse."


	21. Chapter 21

**Not my best work, but I wanted to get something updated. Hope you like it**

**x x x x**

Catherine winced involuntarily at the slamming of the car door.

"Have a good day sweetie." She called out hopefully through the open window. "I'll be here to pick you up later."

Lindsey stared back at her despondently, a painfully pleading look in her baby blue eyes, before turning and squinting up at the school.

She recalled how imposing Butterfield Academy had appeared to her on her first day. However, she had settled into it and come to feel at home here. It was, after all, a nice school.

But standing there now at the periphery of the parking lot, it felt like she had been warped back to that very first day. As she walked through the crowd, she could feel the judgemental stares burning into her skin.

Only this time it wasn't because she was the stranger in their midst. They knew who she was alright.

She was an outcast, a pariah.

In the car, Catherine adjusted the rear-view mirror, tracking the movements of her daughter. She had her head bowed, doing her best to appear invisible as she sloped through the gathered factions of teenagers.

Catherine wanted desperately to run after her and pull her into a tight hug; to take her home and start again tomorrow anew.

But she knew that wasn't an option.

This was just something that Lindsey had to do.

X x x

She raised her hand to knock, but the door swung open before her knuckles could even graze the wood and she found herself faced with Sara's sympathetic smile.

"Hey." The younger CSI greeted softly, waiting for Catherine to walk into her arms.

"It was awful." The strawberry blonde mumbled, burying her face in Sara's neck. "She looked so sad."

"She'll be okay." Sara promised, pulling out of the embrace and guiding her new girlfriend into the flat. "Coffee?"

"Yes, please." Cath breathed, shedding her coat and dropping wearily onto a stool at the breakfast bar.

She had started spending more and more time here since her first night with Sara, so much so that she felt comfortable enough investigating the trinkets and treasures dotted around the apartment. Initially Sara had seemed a little defensive about her curious nosing, but she too had since relaxed to the idea.

Now, she tended to leave Catherine to her snooping in peace as she prepared the drinks. However, today, Cath was too tired to even stand up; so had to settle for flicking idly through the catalogue sitting inoffensively beside her.

Sara slid the cup of steaming coffee towards her, before leaning across the counter and doodling a lazy pattern on the back of Catherine's hand as the older woman nursed the mug protectively.

"I don't know Sara, I don't know if this was the right thing to do."

"Well, you said it yourself – she couldn't afford to miss any more school." Sara pointed out rationally. "And if they're willing to let her back in, you don't want to make things worse with them by turning down the opportunity."

"Yeah, but what about the other students? I don't want her to get bullied."

"You never know," Sara shrugged hopefully. "It might have blown over by now. Kids forget things so fast in school." Even as she spoke, she knew from bitter experience that the likelihood of that happening was slim. No matter how many other people screwed up, there would always be at least one person who would never forget.

Catherine looked up, seeking out Sara's haunted eyes. The brunette had trailed off and now seemed to have fallen into a world of her own as she stared straight past Cath towards the morning sun streaming through the balcony doors. Catherine took her firmly by the hand, tugging her around the bench until the girl was pinned between her legs; and laid her head against her chest.

Something told her that Sara needed the comfort as much as she did right now; even if she didn't know exactly why.

"Thank you." She hummed, revelling in the feeling of Sara's hands trailing rhythmically through her hair. "For everything."

The tender moment was rudely cut short by the harsh trilling of her cell phone. She emitted a frustrated growl, fumbling in her pocket for it.

"Nancy." She rolled her eyes, sliding off her stool and moving across the flat for as much privacy as the small space would allow. "Hey Nance, what's up?"

Sara couldn't hear Nancy's side of the conversation; but judging by the way Catherine's shoulders instantly stiffened, she wasn't just calling for a friendly chat.

"Yeah, I've just dropped her off … I know I'm not at home."

Sara could practically hear the exasperation coming down the line and bit back a smile. She knew how Cath and Nancy greatly enjoyed winding each other up with questions that they already knew the answers to and patently unhelpful responses; but something told her that it wasn't just sibling teasing spurring them on today.

"I'm at Sara's."

Sure enough, there was a long silence and Catherine dropped heavily onto the end of the bed.

"No Nancy … you know what, I'll talk to you later."

Abruptly ending the call before her sister could argue, she stared down at the phone miserably.

"You okay?" Sara asked, pushing herself off the counter and ambling closer.

"At least she's still talking to me." Cath sighed, tossing the device onto the mattress and dragging a hand through her tresses. "It's more than mom's doing right now."

Sara nodded sadly, swallowing around the lump in her throat.

"You know, I don't want to come between your family. If you want to…"

Catherine was already shaking her head, predicting where Sara was going with this.

"I don't want to stop." She barked a little too brusquely

"Okay." Sara nodded again. "So, what _can_ I do?"

Catherine pushed herself slowly to her feet, stepping as close to Sara as physics would allow and threading her arms round her neck.

"Make me forget."

X x x

"Slut."

The hissed word, the last in two dozen insults today, cut through her like a knife and she quickly ducked into the nearest bathroom.

Unfortunately, her relief didn't last long.

"Well, if it isn't the traitor."

Lindsey froze barely two steps into the room, her eyes widening with alarm.

Ally.

Dropping her gaze to the floor, she attempt to slip past the girls into the nearest cubicle, but a figure swiftly blocked her path.

"I can't believe you have the guts to show your face around here." Ally hissed, leaning so close Lindsey could smell faint traces of mint on her breath.

"Just leave me alone." Lindsey mumbled, turning around but finding her escape route equally blocked.

She was cornered.

With a firm shove, Ally pushed her backwards into the cubicle; laughing hysterically as the girl slumped inelegantly between the toilet and the wall with a dull thud.

Tears sprung to her eyes, but she wouldn't let them see it, keeping her head low.

"Come on," Ally spat callously to her friends. "I don't want to share a bathroom with this whore anyway."

X x x

Catherine barely even blinked when the basket was placed delicately in front of her.

Nor did she react when Sara sat down quietly by her side with a coy smile.

"Cat?" She called softly. "You okay?"

"They hate me." The older woman moped, her head resting in her hands. "They're right, I'm a terrible mother."

With a small frown, Sara nudged the basket closer in the hopes her companion might take the hint. The movement seemed to catch Cath's attention this time and she blinked from the tray of muffins to Sara's face, where an endearing smile was dancing on her lips.

The look was just too cute, Catherine couldn't help but match the expression despite her bad mood.

"I don't get you, you know that?" She mused, snatching up one of the treats and picking at it languidly. "I don't know why you're putting up with all of this."

"Because I care about you, and Lindsey."

Catherine stopped her movements, taking a second to scrutinise her friend. Emitted a deep breath, she leant across the table and captured Sara's lips in a brief kiss.

"Ah hem."

They broke apart, matching guilty smiles playing on their blushing faces.

Catherine turned slowly, one eyebrow raised.

"Nancy." She greeted coolly. "Thank you for knocking."

The nurse rolled her eyes dramatically, barely sparing Sara a glance as she whirled on her sister.

"I just wanted to know how Lindsey was this morning."

"Nervous." Cath nodded, regarding her sister carefully. "But she went."

"I still don't think its right." Nancy shook her head. "She shouldn't be going back so soon."

"What choice did we have? She can't stay away from the world forever." Catherine pointed out with a sigh. "Believe me Nancy, I didn't want to leave her there."

Sara watched the cold looks passing between them, electing to keep her own thoughts to herself right now, lest she make things worse between the warring siblings.

"I think you're making a huge mistake." Nancy continued, although the brief look she cast Sara suggested she wasn't just talking about Lindsey anymore.

Catherine emitted a strangled groan, flicking her hair over her shoulders.

"Yeah, well…" she scoffed. "She's not your child, is she?"

There was a painfully long moment where nobody so much as breathed, before finally Nancy took a small step closer.

"At least I know what _my_ child's up to."

Catherine gasped, as if she had been slapped. She blinked back hurt tears as Nancy turned on her heel and stalked out of the kitchen; not even bothering to acknowledge Sara on her way past.

"Oh God." Catherine sniffed, embarrassedly attempting to hide her emotions and failing miserably.

She felt Sara's arms wrap around her body silently and leant into the embrace, feeling the first crystal tear escape from her barriers and trickle down her face.


	22. Chapter 22

**Sorry for the long gaps between updated, I'm in the process of moving (again!) **

**Hopefully you'll be patient with me for the next couple of weeks as I get things sorted :)**

**x x x x**

A lone tear dropped onto her hand unnoticed, trickling over her knuckles.

She wiped it away absently, her gaze still focussed on the small device clasped in her hands.

There was a soft knock at the door and she hurriedly tucked the phone under the blanket, praying that the bright screen light wouldn't show through the thin sheets.

"Lindsey, honey…" Her grandmother poked her head around the door, that same pitying look on her face that she'd been wearing all evening. "Time for bed sweetie."

"Okay grandma." Lindsey mumbled, sliding down under the sheets under the guise of curling up. Lily walked over to place a kiss on her forehead, and her breath hitched. Her grandmother was bound to notice the contraband item now.

However, to her relief, the woman ambled back to the door and offered a sweet smile before switching off the light.

"Get some rest." Lily instructed softly as she pulled the door closed, leaving it ajar just a crack. It was a rule Catherine had enforced recently – so they could keep a closer eye on her – and given the circumstances Lindsey didn't feel like she had the right to argue.

The narrow streak of light from the landing cut across her bed like the blade of a knife, sawing the room in half. Lindsey waited with baited breath until her guardian's footsteps reached the top of the stairs, and the light clicked off. The beam across her bed vanished, plunging her room into pitch blackness.

Finally able to breathe again, she extracted the phone and squinted down at the bright little screen once more.

x x x

"Hey gorgeous." A smooth voice cooed in Sara's ear, startling the brunette from her deep concentration.

"Hi." She cleared her throat, pushing her notes aside. "How're you?"

Catherine smiled, leaning close enough that Sara could just catch the sweet scent of her body lotion.

"Sara, why so formal?" She teased, pecking her girlfriend's lips and placing both hands either side of the woman's hips, pinning her to the bench.

Sara shifted uncomfortably at the close proximity, a pink blush tinting her cheeks.

"We're at work." She pointed out bashfully, flicking her eyes anxiously into the hall.

"So?" Cath pressed, moving her arms around the younger woman's neck. "I thought the reason you adopted this lab was because no one ever walks past here."

"It is." Sara conceded with a tight smile, carefully extracting herself. "But that doesn't mean that we won't still get caught. And the last thing you need right now is to get fired."

A reluctant sigh escaped Cath's pouted lips, but she acknowledged the statement and took a step back.

"I know, I know." She groaned, dragging a hand through her hair. "I'm sorry. I just … I've never been very good at dealing with the hard stuff on my own, you know?"

"You're not on your own." Sara frowned, reaching out a hand and tugging Cath a little closer. "There are just some things that should probably wait until _we're_ alone."

Catherine's lips turned into a small smile and she leant into Sara's shoulder.

"You're right." She conceded. "I guess I'll have to be patient … just don't make me wait too long."

X x x

Patience was not a virtue Catherine Willows claimed to possess. However, she did manage to maintain her self-control until after work and Sara kept up her end of the deal.

"Lindsey at school already?" She asked, peering up the stairs as she passed them en route into the living room.

"Yeah, Nancy dropped her off today." Cath hollered back, already halfway into the kitchen. "Come in, I just made some coffee."

Sara shuffled over and dropped onto the couch, surveying the place as she waited for her companion's return.

They rarely met at Catherine's – force of habit on the blonde's part. She hardly ever brought dates back to her own house, for Lindsey's sake. But Sara was not just any date, and she wanted her girlfriend to be comfortable here.

"You can relax you know," she commented lightly, returning with two mugs. "I don't bite. Unless you want me to."

Sara emitted a nervous laugh, nursing the mug between her hands.

"Sorry." She mumbled. "It's just … this is kind of unfamiliar territory for me. Usually if I'm in someone else's house, it's to fingerprint the place."

Catherine laughed, a bright sound that drew a smile to Sara's face.

"Well, print away." She gestured light-heartedly to the room. "As long as you're willing to clean it up afterwards."

Sara pursed her lips, shaking her head slowly.

"I think I'll pass." She chuckled.

Taking both mugs and placing them on the coffee table, Catherine inched closer and draped an arm across the back of the couch.

"You do have a point though – you haven't spent that much time here. Maybe it's time you got a little more acquainted with the place." She pointed out with a cheeky grin, raising her eyebrows playfully. "And I was _very_ patient earlier…"

"Hmm?" Sara smirked, her eyes dancing down Catherine's body beyond her control. "I suppose you were."

Cath moved closer, leaning in for a kiss. Just as their lips nearly brushed, she pulled back; a devious smile on her face when Sara frowned sullenly at her teasing action, before darting forwards and finally capturing the brunette's mouth in a passionate clinch.

"You're going to drive me crazy one day," Sara mumbled breathlessly as Cath moved her attention to her neck. "You know that?"

"That's the idea." The strawberry blonde hummed, using her teeth to nip the sensitive skin before quickly soothing it with her tongue.

X x x

She had convinced herself that if she could get through the first week back at school, she would be fine; that it would have all died down and things would start to get back to normal again.

But it hadn't died down and she wasn't fine.

The looks remained; the cold hard stares as she shuffled through the crowds. The whispered remarks and snide insults daubed on bathroom walls.

"I can do this." She muttered, shaking her ducked head as she tried to creep by a whole bunch of her classmates unnoticed.

"Talking to yourself now?" A sharp voice called out from the midst of the group. "First sign of madness you know."

"Well, let's face it." A second voice chimed in. "Nobody else will talk to her."

Lindsey came to a sudden stop, squaring her shoulders and turned to face her accusers with a blank expression.

"What do you want, Ally?" She asked coolly, demonstrating more strength that she actually possessed.

The blonde looked her up and down, wrinkling her nose in disgust.

"I want you out of my line of sight." Ally spat callously.

"Yeah, well I don't really want to be here anyway." Lindsey countered. "But I guess we're both stuck with that."

She turned on her heels, secretly proud of herself for having the guts to stand up to them for once, when she felt herself being shoved forwards into the nearest conveniently placed puddle of muddy water.

A chorus of chilling laughter echoed in her ears as she pulled herself to her knees and stared forlornly down at her mud-covered clothes.

"Why don't you just do us all a favour…" Ally hissed against her ear, "and go kill yourself!"

The gaggle of girls stalked past her in a hive of jovial laugher and unsubtle camera flashes, leaving the girl sitting in the mud with tears welling in her blue eyes.

All around her, people stared in badly-disguised amusement or looked away in shame. No one offered to help.

With a strangled sob, she picked herself up, hurling her ruined school bag at the nearest trashcan, and sprinted from the school gates as fast as her exhausted body would carry her.

X x x

They both jolted apart at the sound of the front door slamming closed, but there just wasn't enough time.

Sara barely managed to get one arm into her shirt sleeve, while Catherine was still wrestling with her own; when Lindsey stopped dead in the doorway, her blue eyes like saucers.

"Mom!"

Both women froze, not sure which issue to address first – the fact that they weren't dressed or the fact that Lindsey seemed to be caked head-toe in dried mud.


	23. Chapter 23

**Am getting my life back in order again, so updates should speed up now :)**

**x x x x**

"Lindsey…" Catherine stuttered helplessly, reaching out her hands towards the girl. "I…we…"

"I can't believe you!" The teenager barked breathlessly, her gaze flicking frantically between her mother's horrified expression and Sara; who looked like she was trying to melt into the couch cushions.

"Linds, I … just sit down. Let's talk about this…"

"No!" She took a deliberate step back, shaking her head in disgust. "Get away from me!"

With that, she ripped off her mud-soaked jacket and hurled it at the floor before turning on her heel and stomping upstairs.

Catherine's whole body slumped as she turned despondently to Sara.

"I'm sorry, I…"

"It's okay." Sara assured her softly, nodding towards the stairs. She didn't need it spelling out for her – this was a mother-daughter issue and things would be best all around without her presence here. Still, she couldn't leave Catherine feeling completely alone. "You know where I am if you need me."

"Thank you." The red-head smiled meekly, resisting the urge to kiss her girlfriend. Given the circumstances, it was probably prudent to keep a bit of self-control.

Instead, she watched Sara leave with a heavy heart before turning her attention to the eerie silence echoing from Lindsey's bedroom.

X x x

Lindsey was so busy trying to wrestle her way out of her mud-stained clothes, she didn't even hear the soft knock at her door.

Nor did she notice when it was nudged open and Catherine's head appeared around the frame.

"Lindsey, honey?" She queried softly, shuffling inside. The girl kept her back to her mother as she continued to fight her way free from her top. "Do you want to talk about what you just saw?"

"No." Came the sullen response, muted by the constricting fabric.

"Okay." Cath swallowed, tentatively moving closer and gently easing Lindsey's arm from her sleeve.

"Do you want to talk about what happened at school today?"

Lindsey, finally released, turned to scowl at her before stalking into bathroom.

Catherine trailed behind, not content with leaving this subject alone.

"Honey, did another student do this to you?"

"It's nothing, I fell." The girl lied, snatching up a washcloth to wipe away the dried mud.

Cath perched on the edge of the bath, taking a deep breath.

"If you're being bullied…"

"I'm not." She snapped, whirling around. "And even if I was, I wouldn't tell _you_."

The cold look in her baby-blue eyes sent a chill down Catherine's spine and she visibly flinched at the harsh words.

"Honey, Sara and I…"

"I _know_ what you were doing." She snapped. "I … don't understand why…" Angry, hurt tears streamed from her eyes, leaving dirty tracks down her flushed cheeks, and whatever she was about to say died in her throat.

Cath moved closer, making to pull her into a hug. Lindsey instinctively pushed her away, but she persisted, eventually managing to drag the child into a tight embrace. Almost reluctantly, Lindsey's body relaxed against her shoulder as her frame shook with sobs.

"It's okay." Catherine promised softly, pressing a kiss into her silky hair. "Come downstairs when you're dressed; we'll talk about it properly."

X x x

The lights were off when Sara approached the house; lost to the night as far as the rest of the world was concerned.

But she pressed on, pushing the door open and creeping into the dim hall. She had known it would be open.

Downstairs, nothing was stirring; but at the top of the stairs a lone lamp illuminated the landing, casting tall shadows along the walls.

Sara made her way quietly up the stair case, following the soft orange glow into the bedroom.

"Hey," she called out quietly, hovering in the doorway.

Catherine turned wearily towards the door, the tell-tale circles under her eyes a glaring sign of her current state.

"I got your message." Sara continued, inching inside uncertainly. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Cath arched her stiff back, holding out a hand to pull her closer. "Thanks for coming over."

Sara smiled softly, nodding at the other occupant in the room.

"How's she doing?"

Catherine cast a glance over her sleeping daughter's body, one hand still idly stroking her smooth dirty-blonde tresses where they lay splayed across the pillow.

"She's not happy about it – us – but she was at least willing to hear me out." She sighed.

"What did she say?" Sara pressed carefully.

"Nothing." Cath scoffed. "That was the worst thing – she just stared at me." She trailed off, her gaze softening as she scanned her child's coiled body. "It's like I'm looking at someone I don't even know anymore."

The words caught in her throat, as crystal-like tears began to creep down her cheeks.

"She's still your daughter, Cat." Sara assured her, wiping away the salty drops with a feather-light sweep of her fingertip. "She's just a bit lost at the moment."

Catherine leant into the touch, letting the weight of the day pull her eyes closed.

They remained like that, with Sara perched on the arm of the chair and Cath leaning heavily against her; the only sound in the room Lindsey's deep, even breathing.

Sara had never been in Lindsey's bedroom before – she'd never had any cause to be in there; so she used the opportunity to appraise the area.

It was vastly different to her teenage bedrooms; that was for sure. A single bed and few second-hand pieces of furniture in a foster carer's spare room, that's what she'd known. Pale walls – always yellow, for some reason – and faded carpets.

This room was a very different story. A large bed with decorated sheets and curtains to match. A desk littered with trinkets and school books. Photos, soft toys, ornaments… a lifetime of childhood memories embedded in one room.

As her gaze fell sadly towards the floor, something caught her eye and she frowned softly.

"Cat?"

"Hmm?"

"I thought you took Lindsey's smart phone away."

"I did." Came the sleepy reply, as the older woman barely blinked her heavy eyes open. "Why?"

"Then who's is that?"

This time Catherine straightened up, following Sara's line of sight under the bed.

Sure enough, tucked between a history book and a discarded handbag, was a small touch-screen phone; encased in a familiar blue and white case.

Catherine scooped it up, staring at it in a mix of disbelief and anger.

"Oh, I don't believe it."

X x x

"Alright." Nancy emitted a frustrated sigh as she hurled herself at the couch. "I'm here. What the hell couldn't wait until morning?"

"This." Catherine tossed the phone roughly at her sister, placing her hands on her hips.

"What is this?" Nancy frowned, fumbling with the device.

"That's Jeremy's phone." Cath elaborated, moving closer. "I found it under Lindsey's bed."

"So?" Nancy scowled, her maternal defences already beginning to creep up at her sister's accusatory tone. "He must have left it here."

"I looked at the messages on there." Catherine continued. "Lindsey's been using that phone to access Friend Agenda – the same Friend Agenda account I had her close when I confiscated _her_ phone."

There was a moment when neither sibling spoke, their eyes locked in a cool staring contest. The truth hung between them, but it was clear that neither wanted to say it out loud.

"What exactly are you getting at, Catherine?" Nancy asked at last, crossing her arms defensively.

"I think you know damn well what I'm getting at." Cath spat callously. "Jeremy's helping Lindsey access that damn site!"

"You don't know that!" Nancy launched herself to her feet. "For all you know, Lindsey could have taken it."

"Has he told you he's lost it?" Cath enquired. "Or that it was stolen?"

Nancy pursed her lips, shaking her head.

"Don't try to pin this on my family." She hissed. "Your daughter's the one who's going off the rails; leave my son out of it."

Snatching her bag from the sofa, she made to leave but Catherine wasn't quite finished yet.

"I thought you knew what your child was up to?"

The words stung, causing Nancy to whirl around with a look of pure rage in her eyes.

"At least my son isn't sending naked pictures of himself to the entire school." She barked in retaliation. "Maybe if you paid a bit more attention to her, you wouldn't need to snoop through her room…"

"I wasn't snooping." Cath cut her off abruptly. "And FYI, it was Sara who found that phone."

As soon as the words left her mouth, she knew it was a mistake; but it was too late to take them back. Sure enough, Nancy jumped on the statement.

"And what precisely was Sara doing in Lindsey's room?" She sneered. "You trying to hurt Lindsey more than you already have by inflicting your little girlfriend on her now?"

"She was with me … never mind, that's not the point." Catherine frowned, shaking her head. "The point is, you need to have a long talk with your son."

"Yeah?" Nancy took a step closer, until she was directly in Catherine's personal space. "And you need to have a long hard look at what _you're_ doing to your daughter."


	24. Chapter 24

**Got a job interview in the morning - eek!**

**Also, I'm going away for a few days next week so will try to get a couple more chapters up before then. **

**x x x x**

Lindsey skulked downstairs with her head bowed, her long hair shielding her make-up free face.

"Morning honey." A warm voice called from somewhere to her left. "Happy birthday!"

"Thanks." She mumbled. Figuring she ought to at least attempt a smile, she glanced up.

That was when she noticed the familiar jacket slung over the back of the chair and her stoic expression returned once more. Sara was here, somewhere.

She still wasn't comfortable with the idea of her mother dating a woman, nor did she think she ever would be; but she had started to get used to the brunette's presence in her home, so much so that she at least managed to resist the urge to roll her eyes.

"Sara's just gone back to her flat for something." Cath volunteered, even though Lindsey hadn't asked. "She'll be back soon."

"Oh good." Lindsey muttered sarcastically, brushing through the room into the kitchen.

Catherine trailed behind, that same look of concern and uncertainty in her eyes that she'd been wearing all week.

"Don't you want to open your presents?"

"Maybe later." She shrugged, helping herself to a glass of orange juice from the fridge and planting herself sullenly at the kitchen table with her back to her mother.

Catherine frowned, but didn't push the issue. With everything that had happened lately, it was little wonder the girl didn't feel much like celebrating.

"Is there anything you'd like to do today?" She asked instead. "It _is_ a weekend – we could go out somewhere."

"No thanks."

"Okay." Catherine wasn't giving up, determining to keep her tone hopeful despite her waning optimism. "Or we could do something here. We could rent a movie?"

"Mom, I don't _want_ to do anything." Lindsey huffed exasperatedly, taking her drink and stropping back upstairs. Catherine dropped heavily into the vacated seat, propping her head up in her hands.

A tiny, self-indulgent part of her had been planning Lindsey's sweet sixteen since the day she first held that tiny, perfect baby in her arms. She'd planned streamers and non-alcoholic punch and music. Friends and gifts, and as much love as one person could endure.

She had never in a million years thought she would be spending her daughter's sixteenth birthday like this.

x x x

She slowly closed the lid of the computer, wiping away the silent tears trickling down her face.

Her mother had relinquished the ban on the laptop – out of pity more than anything – under the strict rules that Lindsey was not allowed back on Friend Agenda.

It was a rule she had dutifully adhered to, until today. It was her birthday, after all.

Truth be told, there was only one message she was hoping to see on her page. But it wasn't there.

Checking her phone proved equally fruitless. Her own best friend was ignoring her special day.

However, the rest of the Friend Agenda community had apparently seen fit to fill the page with hurtful and abusive comments aimed not just at herself, but at her mother too for bringing her into this world sixteen years ago.

As she sat alone, cooped up in her bedroom on what should be the biggest day of her life to date, she couldn't help but think that they were right. Maybe everything would have been better if she had never been born.

A soft knock at her door drew her from her sad musings and she wiped hurriedly at her eyes. The door was pushed open and Sara appeared in the doorway.

"Hey." The brunette cleared her throat quietly. "Your mom had to go out, so I thought I'd see…" she trailed off, noting the teenager's poor efforts at disguising her tears. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." Lindsey insisted bluntly, her defences rocketing into place. "What do you want?"

"I thought I'd come and see if you wanted to go out somewhere." Sara said slowly, her gaze shifting from Lindsey to the laptop. The lid was closed, but even from here she could see the telltale little light blinking on the edge of the machine. "Has someone said something else to you?"

"No." Lindsey snapped, shoving the computer away in a silent confession. "Just leave me alone."

Sara didn't leave her alone, and nor did she drop the subject. She ambled carefully into the room, leaning casually against the desk.

"I do know how it feels, you know." She began in a lazy tone. "To feel like everyone hates you."

Lindsey looked up, a sullen scowl on your face.

"You have no idea how it feels." She hissed, pushing herself off the bed and practically hurling herself at the window seat; where she pulled her legs up to her chest and buried her face in her arms. "Just get lost."

Sara quirked an eyebrow at the muted order, but still didn't move. Lindsey had her back to the woman, but she could still feel the dark eyes watching her carefully; waiting.

Eventually, she lifted her head and let it fall against the window pane.

"I hate them all." She sniffed at last, her voice much softer now. "I thought they were my friends – why have they turned against me like this?"

Her delicate frame began to tremble as tears started to spill down her face. She buried her face in her hands, sobs escaping through gasped breaths.

Sara's jaw dropped, startled by the sudden change in mood. Temper tantrums she could handle, but she had never been very good at dealing with crying.

Hell, she wasn't good at handling her own tears never mind other people's.

But Catherine was out, and she couldn't just walk away.

Taking a deep, shuddering breath, she straightened up and stalked out of the room.

Lindsey cracked an eye open, glancing over her shoulder. A tiny part of her was glad that Sara had finally listened to her and gone away. But a bigger part of her wished that the woman had at least attempted to offer some comfort.

However, it was not long before the silence was interrupted by the sound of footsteps running back up the stairs and Sara again appeared in the doorway. She tossed a jacket at Lindsey and held up her car keys pointedly.

"Come on, we're going out." She stated bluntly.

Lindsey stared blankly down at the garment lying limply in her lap, before blinking up at Sara in confusion.

"Where are we going?" She squeaked, wiping at her eyes.

"Anywhere." Sara answered, already moving back downstairs.

Lindsey stared after her, rising to her feet autonomously and following behind.

By the time she made it outside, Sara was already in the driver's seat with the passenger door standing open.

Despite more than a few reservations about taking a mystery road trip with her mom's _girlfriend_, the teenager obliged.

"Where are we going?" She repeated after a long few minutes of watching Sara drive with silent concentration on her face.

"As far away as we have to go to make you forget their names." Sara replied easily.

Lindsey continued to stare at her, stunned.

And gradually, as they left the glittering lights of Las Vegas behind in favour of peaceful desert and a warm breeze flowing through the open windows, she began to relax for the first time.

X x x

"Hello!" Catherine bellowed, letting the front door slam closed behind her. "I'm back!"

No response.

"Hello?"

Tossing her jacket over the back of the chair, she did a lap of the house before ending up back in the lounge.

That was when she spotted the note, hurriedly scrawled on the back of an unopened utility bill and left in plain sight on the coffee table.

_Gone for a drive, will call you later_

Catherine read it twice, and again for good measure.

"Oh." She breathed at last, a little deflated.

It was good, at least, that Sara had managed to get Lindsey out of the house. Still, it would have been nice if they could have done something together.

And it did leave her at a loss of what to do with herself for the remainder of the day.

X x x

"I'm hungry." Lindsey stated.

"Where do you want to eat?" Sara asked, flicking her eyes briefly to her passenger. To be honest, they'd been driving in a straight line in quiet for so long, she'd almost forgotten why she was even in the car.

"I don't know." Lindsey straightened up in her seat, looking out of the window. She had no idea where they were; it was a little town outside of Vegas somewhere where she had never been before. "There's a café over there." She pointed out a little wooden hut with a handmade sign hanging above the door.

"Sure, okay." Sara agreed, pulling the car into the sandy square masquerading as a parking lot.

Outside, she stretched her legs and cast a glance at her watch.

"I need the bathroom." Lindsey announced, heading off in the direction of the arrow.

"I should probably phone your mother." Sara frowned, having completely missed what the teen had said. "She'll think we're on the other side of a state line by now."

X x x

"Hey!" She practically dived on the phone, the dust-cloth she had been using halfway down the stairs.

"Hi," She could hear Sara smile into the phone. "Did you miss us yet?"

"Of course." Cath frowned, reclining onto the arm of the sofa. "Where are you?"

"Um, that's a good question." Sara murmured, glancing around them as if the bleak surroundings might offer some answers. "I think we're somewhere near Jackpot ... maybe."

"Jackpot?" Cath scrunched up her nose. "How the hell did you end up there?"

"Long story." Sara chuckled softly. "We're going to get something to eat here and then head back – maybe we could pick you up on the way back and go see a show in town?"

"Yeah, yeah that sounds good." Cath smiled softly. "Is Lindsey there? Can I talk to her?"

"She's..." Sara paused, spinning in a circle until she located the child eyeing up the menu with hunger in her wide blue eyes. "She's waiting impatiently by the counter." Sara joked.

"Okay, well you'd better go then." Catherine acknowledged reluctantly. "Call me when you're on your way back and I'll start to get ready."

"I know you better than that." Sara teased. "Start getting ready now."

The line went dead before Catherine could offer a retort and she shook her head in amusement. Granted, Sara had spent a great deal of time waiting for her to get ready for their dates – but she never once complained about the finished result.

Casting a glance at her watch, she reasoned that she had just enough time to finish cleaning the upstairs before they would be calling to say that they were on the way home.

Starting with Lindsey's bedroom.


	25. Chapter 25

**Last update until Thursday, so I hope it'll keep you guys going :) **

**x x x x**

Catherine jumped, startled by the intrusion to her thoughts. She flicked her eyes from the item of her musings – sitting inoffensively in the centre of the coffee table – to the phone trilling beside her.

Attempting to shake away the gut-wrenching pictures being conjured up in her head, she reached for the device with a trembling hand.

"Hello?" Even to her own ears, her voice sounded hollow.

"Hi mom!"

Lindsey. She actually sounded happy – something which, when teamed with the dark images in her mind, sent a chill down Catherine's spine.

"Lindsey, hi." She managed to squeak out, clearing her throat. "Where ... where are you guys?"

There was a muffling and she could faintly hear another familiar voice in the background answering Lindsey's query.

"Sara says we're about twenty miles outside of Vegas." Lindsey recited dutifully. "Are we still going to a see a show?"

"A show?" Cath repeated, dazed, as she reached out to pick up the item from the table. "Sure, why not?" She closed her fist around it, scrunching her eyes tight shut against the tears threatening to fall. Taking a deep breath, she opened them again and attempted to put on a happy voice. "I guess I'd better get ready, huh?"

"Yep. Don't be late." She could practically hear her daughter frown on the other end of the phone and bit back a sob.

"I won't." She promised, taking a deep shuddering breath. "Tell Sara to drive safe."

Hanging up and clutching the phone to her chest, she slowly unfurled her hand to stare at the little tub of pills.

X x x

"Sara?"

No response.

"Sara?"

Again, no response.

Catherine rolled across the dozing brunette, until she was pressed firmly against her shoulder.

"Sara?" She hissed, finally eliciting a murmured response.

"What's wrong?" The sleepy voice inquired half-heartedly.

"Are you asleep?" Cath asked, somewhat inanely.

"Yes."

She chewed on the inside of her cheek, refusing to give her girlfriend the satisfaction of avoiding this conversation.

"Are you planning on sleeping long?"

"Yes."

Cath rolled back onto her side of the bed, a sullen pout on her lips. After a moment of silence, she rolled back towards Sara again, her long hair falling in silky waves across the younger woman's coiled body.

"How long are you planning on sleeping?"

Sara finally emitted a resigned sigh as she flipped onto her back and stared up at her hopeful companion with badly disguised annoyance.

"What? What's wrong?"

Catherine pursed her lips.

"No, never mind." She decided at last, slumping back against the headboard.

Sara shuffled upright, clicking her lamp on and fixing Catherine with a firm glower.

"No, I'm up now." She pointed out, stifling a yawn. "And I won't get back to sleep until you tell me, so what is it?"

Catherine scrutinised her features, debating whether now was the best time to divulge her greatest fears given Sara's current mood.

"It's Lindsey." She admitted at last.

"Of course it is." Sara agreed, exhaling as she propped the pillows up behind her and made herself comfortable, anticipating a long conversation. "What about her?"

In answer to that increasingly complicated question, Cath reached into her bedside drawer and withdrew the tub of pills she had stashed there earlier.

Sara's mildly pissed off expression instantly melted into a mix of surprise and horror.

"Tell me those aren't hers." She almost begged, her dark eyes training on Catherine's face.

"They're not." Cath agreed, passing them from one hand to the other distractedly. "They're mine. But I found them under her mattress this afternoon."

Sara took the tub from her, narrowing her eyes to read the faded label.

"Diazepam."

"Yeah, I..." Catherine shifted, uncomfortable at having to explain this particular part of her sordid past to her girlfriend. "When Eddie and I first split up, I was finding it pretty hard to cope. He left me with no money, a kid to raise and a mortgage to pay. I got depressed, so I went to the doctor and..." She gestured feebly to the tablets.

"Wow." Sara frowned sadly. "I had no idea."

"Yeah, well." Cath shrugged. "You and I weren't that close back then. And I didn't exactly broadcast the fact at work."

"No, I guess not." Sara agreed softly. "So, how did Lindsey get them?"

"I don't know." Cath dragged a hand through her hair, sliding down the headboard and slumping heavily against Sara's shoulder. "I guess she found them in my bathroom. I'd forgotten they were even there – they're probably about five years out of date."

"Seven." Sara countered, scanning the label again. "And three months."

"Oh God!" Cath groaned again. Sara cracked the lip open, peering inside.

"Do you remember roughly how many were in here last time you took them?"

Catherine gave her a withering look, which pretty much summed up her answer.

"It was years ago, I haven't got a clue."

"Okay," Sara breathed, trying to think on her feet. "Well she seems fine; but assuming she has actually taken some, it's probably best to get her checked out just in case."

Cath nodded glumly; that thought had already crossed her mind more than once today. "I phoned Henry earlier – off the record. He said she should be fine but to take her to the doctors in the morning anyway."

"Okay." Sara pursed her lips. "Will it be easier on her if I'm not there?"

"I don't know." Catherine shook her head helplessly. "Sar ... She's been this bewildering, complex little problem for thirteen years. But I never thought I would miss something this big."

"Hey, this isn't your fault." Sara promised her, catching the tears falling obliviously from her partner's blue eyes on the tip of her finger. "You're a great mom, Catherine."

"Yeah, right." The older woman scoffed. "Do you know what I said to her, sixteen years ago tonight? I promised that I wouldn't let her make the same mistakes as I made. And now she's..."

The end of the sentence never made it past her trembling lips, as she collapsed against Sara's chest in a fit of gasping, breathless sobs.

X x x

Sara was asleep, her arms protectively encasing Catherine's body, when the strawberry-blonde stirred. She slipped, careful not to disturb her partner, off the bed and snatched her bathrobe from the back of the door on her way out of the bedroom.

She squinted, letting her eyes adjust to the fading evening sun still illuminating the hallway. Like most of the graveyard shift, she had long since invested in a blackout blind for her bedroom; but it did make it easy to forget that it was still daylight outside of that room.

Shaking her tousled hair out, she padded towards Lindsey's room and nudged the door open.

They had dropped the teenager off at Nancy's on the way back from the theatre, saving them a journey later on. Though she still didn't know exactly what Sara had done, it had certainly had an effect. For the first time today, she had seen the hint of a smile on her child's face.

Catherine read rooms for a living, and she had spent more than enough time in other people's homes to identify the telltale signs of a teenager's bedroom. Stuffed toys, reminiscent of more innocent times; interspersed with smatterings of make-up, almost-adult clothes and more technology than the Apple Store.

Standing in the doorway to her daughter's bedroom now, she couldn't help but look at it through the eyes of a criminalist looking into a crime scene.

And she couldn't ignore the chilling knowledge that, had she not found those pills when she did, it very nearly could have been.


	26. Chapter 26

**This should have been up yesterday, but the French strikes over airspace delayed our flights on Thursday and has set me back a bit. Anyway, hope you enjoy it :) **

**x x x x**

"What have I done?"

Catherine had tried to appear blasé in summoning Lindsey to the living room. Clearly, the facade had failed miserably.

"Nothing, honey." She cleared her throat, perching carefully on the edge of the coffee table. "I just needed to talk to you about something."

"Why's she here?" Lindsey nodded across the room, to where Sara was lurking quietly at the bottom of the stairs. Sara opened her mouth to offer some kind of explanation; but Catherine spoke up before she had to.

"I asked Sara to be here." She asserted, making it clear with her tone that Lindsey wasn't going to get a say in that matter. The girl was visibly dissatisfied with that answer, but kept her opinion to herself as she slumped into the couch cushions with a scowl.

"So, what did you want to talk to me about?"

Cath rolled her shoulders, tipping her head to the ceiling in an attempt to garner enough courage to do this. She hadn't felt this sick since she first saw that photo on Lindsey's phone.

"This." She produced the pills, placing them carefully on the table.

Lindsey's eyes widened, her gaze flicking frantically between her mother and the illicit pills.

"You went in my room?" She squeaked. "Under my mattress?"

"Yes." Catherine agreed, nonplussed. She hadn't actually been intentionally snooping, but it couldn't hurt if her daughter believed it was fruitless to hide things from her. "And apparently, you went into my bathroom cabinet."

Lindsey dropped her gaze, realising that there was no way that she could turn the tables this time. She had, after all, broken the number one house rule.

Only one person can disperse medication.

"I'm sorry." She sniffed. "I only took a few, I promise!"

Catherine scanned her features, deciding whether or not to believe the impassioned assurance.

"Okay." She pursed her lips. "How many is 'a few?'"

"Six." Lindsey mumbled. "Two at a time – I followed the instructions exactly."

"You could read that?" Sara piped up, surprised. She had struggled to read the name on the label, let alone the prescribed dose. Lindsey glanced up, having almost forgotten about the brunette's presence.

"I Googled them on a computer at school." She confessed. Sara pursed her lips, biting back a scathing remark about the reliability of internet medical advice. The kid really didn't seem up to that kind of criticism right now. "I'm sorry." She murmured, her gaze sinking to the floor once again.

Catherine reached out to grip her hands, getting her firm attention.

"Lindsey, you know how dangerous it was of you to do that; don't you?"

The teenager nodded eagerly, chewing on her lower lip. Cath mimicked her actions, taking a deep, shuddering breath.

"Okay, well ... the next thing then is for us to get you to the doctors."

"What?" Lindsey's head shot up, her gaze flashing frantically between the two women. "Why?"

"Sweetheart, you took medication that was several years out of date." Cath pointed out gently. "We need to make sure that it hasn't done anything to hurt you."

"But I feel fine!" Lindsey insisted, launching herself to her feet. "I'm fine, and ... I won't do it again, I promise! Please don't make me go ..."

"No Lindsey, honey, you don't understand." Catherine emitted an exasperated sigh, shaking her head sadly in loss. "You're just a child."

Sara, sensing even from across the room that her girlfriend's inner strength was starting to fade, stood up and moved carefully towards them.

"All they'll want to do is a couple of blood tests." She assured the terrified girl. "It's more to give your mom peace of mind than anything."

Lindsey's panicked expression waned as she mulled over the thought, scrutinising her mother's features. She had to admit, she had been quite a headache for her family lately.

Maybe she could do this one thing for her.

"Are you coming too?" She asked of the brunette; but once again it was Catherine who answered.

"No, Sara's going to stay here and make some phone calls for me." She explained, straightening up. "I think it's time we started looking at other options – like getting you into another school."

X x x

"Catherine?" Lily, never one for knocking, poked her head into the kitchen.

"Mom, hi." Catherine dropped the leaflet she was reading – one of the dozen scattered across the kitchen table – and removed her glasses.

"I got your message." The older woman hummed. "Is Lindsey okay?"

"Yeah, she's fine." Cath shrugged. "She's in her room. I just wondered if you could watch her for a few hours – there's been a triple homicide in North Vegas and Days are slammed; they need the whole team on board. Sara's already gone in."

"Really?" Lily droned, visibly stiffening at the sound of the other CSI's name. She had turned her attention to the mass of paperwork on the table and picked one of the sheets of paper up. "What's all this?"

"We're looking at other schools. I think it's the only way to get her out of this depression."

"By taking her away from her friends?" Lily countered. "Was this Sara's idea, too?"

"What friends?" Cath asked, blatantly ignoring the slant against her girlfriend. "Her friends aren't talking to her anymore. If anything, that's what's making things worse."

But Lily wasn't listening, her attention already defecting across the room.

"What is that?" She asked, moving towards the sink where a familiar little orange tub stood empty on the draining board. "Are you taking pills again?"

"No." Cath rose from her seat to take the pot back, but Lily held it out of her reach.

"So they're Sara's?"

"No." Again, she shook her head. "They're mine, from years ago – I'd forgotten I had them. Lindsey found them in my bathroom cabinet." She held up her hands, before her mother could cut in again. "She's fine, I took her to the doctors this morning. Everything's okay."

"This is your fault, you know." Lily spat, slamming the empty tub onto the counter and brandishing an accusatory finger at her daughter. "How on Earth is Lindsey supposed to know how to deal with things when all she's ever seen is you burying your head in the sand?"

Catherine blinked, taken aback.

"I deal with things in my own way." She insisted. "And Lindsey knows that what she did was wrong – she admitted that."

"I'm not just talking about the pills Catherine, I'm talking about everything! About how you throw yourself into work; how you go out and pick up strangers in bars; about ..."

"Sara." Cath finished off for her, shaking her head in disappointment. Lily opened her mouth to speak again, but Catherine cut her off with a raised hand. "You know what mom, save it." She spat bitterly. "I've heard it all before."

"Well maybe it's time you started listening." Lily retorted without missing a beat. She picked up the leaflet Catherine had been reading, giving it a once over before tossing it back onto the heap. "Lindsey doesn't need a new school. She needs a mother."

"Mom..."

"Call your work, tell them you're not coming in today." Lily said calmly, making a show of slinging her handbag over her shoulder to indicate that she was not planning on staying to babysit. "Spend some time with your child, before it's too late."

X x x

When there was a soft knock on the front door less than an hour later, startling Catherine's already rattled nerves, a fruitlessly optimistic part of her hoped it might be her mother returning to apologise.

Brushing her clothes down in a vain effort to appear composed, she took a calming breath and threw the door open.

However, it was not her mother waiting sheepishly behind the door. Nor was it her sister, returning the impassioned plea she had left on Nancy's answering machine after her mother refused to babysit.

Instead, the person blinking against the afternoon sun, one hand leaning lazily against the doorframe, cast an affectionate glance over her stunned expression and offered a tired smile.

"Hi Muggs."


	27. Chapter 27

Cath stood, mouth half-open, blinking at her unexpected guest. He was framed by the sun, his imposing figure casting a shadow over her; but his blue eyes were gentle as they rose to meet her stunned gaze.

"Sam." She stuttered. "What are you doing here?"

"Well," he licked his lips. "I wanted to see my daughter – if that's alright with her?"

Catherine stepped aside, her eyes narrowed as he slipped past her into the house.

"Your mother told me what's been going on with Lindsey." He explained his reason for the unprecedented visit. "How is she?"

"She's struggling." Cath admitted, knowing it would be pointless to lie if Lily had already gotten there first. He probably knew more about the situation than the rest of her team did.

Sam nodded sadly, casting his eyes around the home as he shed his jacket. Despite their biological relation, this was his first time in this building – the first tentative step forward in their relationship, perhaps.

"Lily also told me about this ... woman you've been seeing, from work?"

A humourless laugh escaped Catherine's lips, her previous expression of uncertainty melting into one of bitter disgust.

"Of course she did."

"Muggs..."

"If she's sent you to tell me I'm making a mistake, you can save your breath." She held up her hands defensively, hair locks bouncing off her shoulders as she shook her head angrily.

Sam blinked, seemingly taken aback by the insinuation that his visit was some kind of mission orchestrated to break up the budding relationship.

"Actually," he perched on the arm of the couch, crossing his legs. "I came to see how you were coping with everything." He delved into his top pocket. "And to give you these."

Catherine accepted the gift warily, studying them. They were tickets to a show.

Three tickets, she noted with intrigue.

"I thought you could take Sara, if you wanted to."

There was a long silence as Catherine let his offer sink in.

"So, you're okay with..."

To her surprise, he laughed.

"Catherine, I've known a lot of people in my life." He rubbed a hand across his mouth, thinking carefully about to phrase this. "Some of them were black, some were white. Some were gay, some were straight. It's not my place in this world to judge which ones are right and which are wrong." When it was clear that she was struggling to grasp his acceptance, he reached out and took her hand lightly. "Let me ask you something, Catherine: does she make you happy?"

"Yes."

"Will she take care of you, and Lindsey?"

Catherine thought back to yesterday – how Sara had whisked Lindsey away on a spontaneous drive to make her feel better. How she had comforted Cath upon her horrifying discovery of the pills. How she had spent all morning phoning schools and printing off reams of information at Cath's request.

"Yes." She answered softly. "Always."

Sam nodded, satisfied with her responses.

"Then I'm okay with it."

Her lips twitched into a smile, barely wanting to believe that someone was actually on hers and Sara's side.

"Could you explain that to mom?" She joked softly, attempting to conceal the tears of genuine gratitude starting to build in her eyes.

Sam nodded in understanding; Lily had been rather scathing in her description of their daughter's latest fling. He had to admit, it had come as a shock to him at first. But he loved Catherine, and he was not about to lose her again after all these years over something so trivial as a few dates with a woman.

X x x

It had never dawned on Catherine until now, but she had no idea how Sam took his coffee. She had never had to make it for him before – normally when they'd met up, it was in a bar or restaurant. Sam usually had someone else getting drinks for him, so this was sort of a novelty for them both.

Deciding that he could have it the same as she did and lump it, she nudged the kitchen door open and slid into the lounge with the tray balanced carefully in her hands.

Thankfully, Sam had not gotten bored while waiting for her. He had company.

"Lindsey." Cath smiled. Apparently Sam's presence had been enough to coax the girl from her room; she was currently tucked between him and the couch, her head tipped against his strong shoulder.

"She was just telling me about the project she's been doing at school." He explained, squeezing the child's shoulder.

Ordinarily, Catherine didn't like Sam spending time with Lindsey alone. However, it was the first time she had seen anything resembling a smile on Lindsey's face all day.

And she still really needed to get to work.

"Hey Linds," She perched on the other side of her daughter. "How would you like to spend some time with Grandpa this afternoon?" She asked, flicking her gaze to his. "If he doesn't mind?"

"Of course I don't mind." He smiled warmly, wrapping an arm around the teenager's shoulders. She'd grown so fast since he last saw her – she was nearly a woman now. "You like horses, right?"

"Sure." She smiled. "I'll get my bag."

As she scuttled back upstairs, decidedly faster than she had coming down, Catherine turned back to Sam with a grateful smile.

"Thanks. I think it'll do her some good to get out for a while."

And who knows, she through to herself, maybe some of Sam's open-mindedness might rub off on her.

"My pleasure." He assured her. "And Muggs, don't worry about Lily – I'll talk to her, see if I can make her see sense."

X x x

"Hey, you made it!" Nick grinned cheekily as the tardy woman finally sailed into the lab. "Hope we're not interrupting your day off."

"Don't Nick." She rolled her eyes, shrugging into a white coat. "It has taken me all day to find someone who could watch Lindsey. In the end I had to leave her with Sam."

"Sam?" Warrick scrunched up his nose. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"What other choice did I have?" She asked, before it dawned on her that she may be inviting too many questions with her instinctive retort. "Never mind," she quickly shook her head and gestured to the table. "Catch me up to speed."

"Okay, well we're just checking the blood spatter on the victims' clothing." Nick explained, handing her a micrometer and pointing to the wife's clothing laid out untouched on the opposite side of the table. "Dig in."

"So," Warrick cleared his throat after a few minutes, twisting his stiff neck until it clicked. "How's Lindsey doing? Still giving you sleepless days?"

"Yes." She grunted, shaking her strawberry-blonde hair out testily. "She's ... I don't know. Things should get better once I can get her into a new school."

"You're going to pull her out of Butterfield Academy?" Nick frowned. "I thought she loved it there?"

"She did, but taking her out is the only way for her to get past this. She'll be happier once she can put it all behind her."

"Yeah, I think that's a good idea." Warrick hummed, offering a reassuring pat on her shoulder. "You both deserve a happy ending."

"Yeah." She agreed, her attention drifting across the hall to where a certain brunette was loitering over the back of Archie's chair, laughing brightly at something he'd said. "Yeah, we do."

X x x

She didn't know why she still had it, or why she'd brought it to work. She knew that she should just toss it in the trash.

But she couldn't take her eyes off it.

In the security of her office, with the blinds down and the door closed, the sounds of the lab had faded to muted murmurs and her attention wandered, her mind dragging up memories that she thought were long since buried.

"Should I be worried?"

Catherine jumped at the gentle hand on her shoulder. At her bemused scowl, Sara gestured to the empty pill pot sitting innocuously in the centre of her desk.

"No." Cat smiled softly, reaching up to grip Sara's wrist tightly. "I was just ... thinking."

"About?" The brunette pressed, spinning around and perching on the edge of the table top.

"About how things were back then." Cath reclined in her chair, tipping her head back against the soft leather. "About how lost I felt." She paused, straightening up to regard Sara carefully. "You know, you probably weren't aware of this, but you really helped me."

"Me?" The younger CSI blinked, confirming Catherine's prior sentiment.

"Yeah." She laughed softly. "You brought the team together – you completed it. That was the one thing that really pulled me out of my funk."

"Oh." Sara frowned, somewhat disbelievingly. "Well, you're welcome; I guess."

Cath beamed, reaching out to grip Sara's hand. She intertwined their fingers, letting her eyes drift closed for just a few seconds before their private moment was rudely interrupted by a harsh knock at the door.

"Catherine?" Gil's head appeared around the frame. "Oh, sorry." He blinked, noting the girls' proximity to each other with perplexity; but not quite catching their conjoined hands before Sara quickly withdrew hers. "Am I interrupting something?"

"No." The blonde flicked her hair over her shoulder, sharing a coy look with her girlfriend. "What's up?"

He pursed his lips, gesturing rather unsubtly to Sara.

"Catherine, can I talk to you – in private."

X x x

"Okay, so what's so important that you couldn't talk in front of Sara?"

"This." He presented her with an evidence bag, waiting for its significance to register.

"Oh." She nodded slowly. "I see."

"I wanted you to see it before the rest of the team." He left it at that, but the point he was making was clear. He didn't want to have to explain this development to the rest of the team all by himself.

As she studied the piece of evidence closely, he was studying her with equal curiosity.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, why?" She asked absently, not looking up.

"Well, you and Sara ... it seemed like you were having quite a serious conversation." He shifted. "There's nothing going on that I should know about is there?"

Finally, she lifted her gaze; failing to hide the momentary flash on panic behind it.

"Like what?"

He sighed – he had hoped that she would have picked up on his message, so he would have been spared the job of going into specifics.

"If you two have had another falling out, I don't want to have to deal with it right now." He breathed.

Cath's features relaxed and she sent him a cocky little half smile.

"Everything's fine Gil, I promise."


	28. Chapter 28

**Stark: Thank you **** :) I've wanted to give Lindsey her own story for a while now, she can get rather underused in fanfic sometimes. I'm glad you're enjoying it so far :)  
**

**For those curious about the planted evidence, there will be more details to follow - I know it's all a bit cryptic at the moment, but all will be revealed soon :P  
**

**x x x x**

"Alright gang," Grissom addressed the gathered group, shuffling the papers in front of him awkwardly.

"What's going on, boss?" Warrick asked with a frown, noting with concern the shifty looks passing between his supervisors.

Taking the hint from the pleading look Gil sent her, Catherine cleared her throat and took over.

"There's been a development." She explained tactfully, sliding the evidence bag across the layout table. Warrick and Sara both reacted as expected, with muted gasps of horror.

Nick, ever the innocent of the group, continued to regard it with confusion.

"What are we looking at?" The bemused Texan scowled, reaching out to touch the bloodstained weapon through the plastic encasing it.

"A dirty cop." Warrick locked eyes with Catherine, waiting for the nod of confirmation. "Wow." He breathed, running a hand over his springy curls. "Seriously, planted evidence: this is what we're looking at?"

"Mandy's already run all the prints from the scene against the internal database – no match." Catherine said hoarsely. "Jim's checking with his guys who were at the scene now."

"The Sherriff's on his way." Grissom added sombrely. "In light of this and other recent events involving Las Vegas Police officers, he's going to open an enquiry into the whole lab and everyone in it."

"What does that mean?" Sara asked anxiously, determining to avoid Catherine's gaze; knowing full well that the strawberry-blonde was thinking the same thing she was.

Internal Affairs would leave no stone unturned – and sleeping with your colleague was a pretty big stone in their eyes.

"It means," Warrick confirmed her fear with a heavy sigh, "that if you've got any dirty laundry, you'd better use bleach."

X x x

"Hey," Sara rapped her knuckles lightly on the door. "I've been looking for you." Catherine's only reaction was the resigned slump of her shoulders.

"Well, you've found me." She pointed out dryly, lifting her head but still not turning to face her girlfriend.

Sara ambled closer to lean against the table that Catherine was practically draped across, letting one hand idly drift across the older woman's shoulder as she did so.

"What's up?"

Cath lifted her head wearily, her tired eyes seeking out Sara's face in the dimly lit room.

"What do you think?" She drawled sarcastically.

Sara nodded in understanding of the comment, pursing her lips.

"It might not be that bad." She mused optimistically. "Maybe they won't look that deep into our personal lives."

"Yes, they will." Cath countered, sitting back in her seat and combing her fingers through her hair. "I can't deal with this; not on top of everything else."

"Hey," Sara frowned, reaching out to grip Catherine's hands tightly between her own. "Alright, so they can look. But we've been careful, how are they going to find out?"

Despite her obvious exhaustion, Cath's lips twitched into a half smile.

"Careful?" She repeated, gesturing pointedly to their conjoined hands. "What if someone were to walk in now?"

"Alright," Sara conceded with a soft laugh, releasing her girlfriend. "Alright, so what if they find out? It's not like _we_ planted the evidence at the scene."

"It's not about that, Sara." Cath sighed sadly, shaking her head. "It's about the integrity of the lab. And when the members of that lab are caught shacking up together..."

"Shacking up?" Sara echoed with amusement, dragging a surprised laugh from her partner.

"You know what I mean." She chuckled, slapping the girl lightly on the arm. "Anyway, the point is if they find out..."

"They won't find out." Sara promised, squeezing her shoulder.

Cath flicked her eyes up, not quite allowing herself to believe the assurance.

"What if they do?" She repeated softly. "What do we do then?"

Finally letting her strong facade weaken a little, Sara's expression sobered up and she took a deep breath.

"Then we'll deal with it."

X x x

"Man, I hate IA." Nick grumbled. "There's nothing wrong with the integrity of this lab."

"Hmm." Warrick agreed half-heartedly, his attention already affixed elsewhere.

"I mean, what do they really think they're going to find? It's not like whoever planted that knife at the scene is going to be dumb enough to leave a paper-trail behind."

"Hmm."

"Rick?" Nick barked, finally getting his mate's attention.

"What, man?" Warrick blinked, glancing up with irritation written all over his worn-out face.

"Are you listening?"

"Yes, I'm listening." He groaned. "But what difference does it make? Either way IA are coming, you may as well just deal with it."

"Yeah, well." Nick sighed. "I still think it's pointless. Just because they found evidence of planted evidence at one crime scene, doesn't mean that the whole department's dirty."

"IA see things in black and white." Warrick mused. "Dirty cop means dirty station, which means dirty crime lab. It's all connected."

"I guess." Nick agreed, unconvinced.

"What we got to do is figure out is why a cop would want to kill this guy and his family." The dark-skinned CSI continued. "That way we can at least have a head-start on IA when they get here."

Nick agreed with a heavy groan, resuming his daunting task of pawing through the family's mass of paperwork gathered from their sprawling office.

He barely got through two more sheets, however, before his attention wavered once more.

"Hey, was it just me or did the girls seem kind of edgy about the idea of IA coming?"

"Sure, isn't everybody?" Warrick snorted. "Everyone has secrets – things they don't need their colleagues knowing about. I know I do."

"Yeah, yeah you're right." Nick agreed softly. "I wonder what their secrets are."

X x x

"I hate my life." Lindsey moped, doodling circles in the wisps of sand dancing across the wooden deck.

"It's not that bad." Jeremy countered sullenly. He was laid on his back, his arms folded beneath his head as he stared up at the rapidly setting sun.

Lily had eventually, somewhat reluctantly, swallowed her pride and returned to Catherine's house; with Jem in tow to act as a sort of buffer – only to find Sam babysitting her granddaughter. She was shocked at her daughter's impetuous actions – leaving Lindsey with whoever happened to stop by – but she had calmed down enough to agree to Sam's offer of a cup of coffee.

Lindsey could see them chatting in the living room, their heads bowed together like teenage lovers.

Like her mother and Sara would sit on an evening, when they thought she was sulking in her bedroom.

She cast a glance at her cousin, still watching the clouds pass by lazily on the breeze. Even he was beginning to tire of her bad mood.

She picked herself up, sloping across the paved garden.

Her own family was fed up with her; her mother was so exhausted with her actions that she had switched teams, for crying out loud!

And her friends had well and truly ditched her.

All of which kept leading her back to one question, continually swirling around her troubled mind:

What the hell was the point anymore?

X x x

They all sat, like a 1940s family gathered around the lone TV set, listening to the story they'd fruitlessly hoped would not make the news.

"_Today, in light of recent events including the senseless murder of the Wilson family,"_ the Sheriff's stern voice declared to every media station in Las Vegas; _"I am opening an enquiry into the entire Police department. Every member of staff will be put under the microscope until we discover who is responsible for this vile abuse of power."_

"Well," Greg sighed mock-dramatically as he heaved himself to his feet. "I suppose I'd better go get rid of my stash of porn before IA arrives."

Nobody responded, their gazes still locked onto the tiny screen in the middle of the break room.

"_From today until this is sorted,"_ the Sheriff continued, his sharp gaze practically staring straight into the room through the cameraman's lens, _"nobody in this department will have such a thing as a private life." _


	29. Chapter 29

It was like the arrival of a monarchy: the front doors swung open, bringing a wave of stifling Las Vegas heat into the lab as they swept through the reception area. A quick flash of their badges and they were promptly waved into the maze of corridors without so much as a raised eyebrow.

The well-dressed entourage came to a halt outside the break room, and the leader of the pack stepped out of line.

"Mr Ecklie?" A stern voice enquired, drawing to it three pairs of eyes.

"Yes." Conrad cleared his throat, rising from his seat with his hand already extended in greeting. "Internal Affairs?"

"Agent Jerry Connolly." The suited man asserted, flicking his gaze to the other two men lurking in the room. "Mr Jordan and Mr Grissom, I presume?"

"Dr Grissom." Gil corrected testily as all three supervisors begrudgingly shook hands with the agents.

"Noted." Connolly nodded bluntly. "I understand that you've all been briefed." They murmured their agreement. "And your teams – they're all aware of the situation too?"

"Yes, they are." Ecklie jumped in hurriedly. "And I can assure you, they are all just as eager to solve this as you are. I can promise you will have their full cooperation."

"Excellent." Connelly gestured to the two men behind him. "These are Agents Mac Keefer and Jim Frazier. Keefer will be working with the Day Shift team, Frazier with Swing," he nodded imperceptibly at Bobby Jordan. "And since it was a night shift case, I'll be working with the Graveyard shift."

Grissom visibly twitched at this news. He had expected as much, but he was still not thrilled to have it confirmed. Everything about this man's demeanour, from his perfectly pressed suit to his flawlessly combed black hair, suggested he was a stickler for the details.

"Alright," the supervisor resigned himself to the fact, dropping his shoulders miserably. "We'll do a debrief at the start of shift to catch you up to speed."

"I've read the report." Connelly countered, almost insulted at the insinuation that he was behind in some way.

"Yeah," Grissom licked his lips, unable to resist the opportunity to get one up on the man. "But we work fast ... I wouldn't want you to fall behind."

X x x

"Alright," Catherine slapped her hands onto the table. "Let's rewind. What do we know?"

The team shifted, all too aware that they were being observed. It was never a party when IA rocked up, but it was even worse when it was your own team being dissected like pinned frogs.

Recognising the pleading expression in Cath's eyes at the deathly silence that followed her question, Sara decided to bite the bullet and be the first to speak up.

"Okay, the husband, wife and teenage son were all killed in their home; both adults were stabbed, the son was shot." She paused, flicking her eyes briefly to the agent scrutinising her from the corner of the room. "The six-year-old daughter was spared."

"This lighter was found in the son's room," Nick took over, tossing the evidence bag into the middle of the table. "Family members and friends confirmed that no-one in the house smoked."

"That's where things got dodgy." Warrick coughed, determining to avoid the piercing gaze of the IA officer; unlike his colleagues. "When we tried to test for DNA and prints we found the samples degraded, due to LGM contamination. But, the contamination was on the side that was against the carpet which means the lighter was placed there _after_ we started processing."

"And we know that the only people on site at the time were CSIs and cops." Catherine surmised with a deep breath.

"Alright." The agent spoke at last from his shadowy hole between the door and the whiteboard. "Who was at the scene at the time?"

"All of us." Nick shrugged. "It was a big scene."

Connelly double-checked the register, having already known the answer, before glancing up to meet Catherine's gaze.

"You weren't, Ms Willows." He pointed out. "According to this, you didn't arrive until two hours after the evidence was collected."

"I couldn't find a babysitter for my daughter." She answered swiftly. His narrowed eyes suggested he was not convinced, as he seemed to decipher the response. She could have sworn that he was trying to read her very thoughts.

"Okay." He nodded sceptically at last. "Who was it that collected the lighter?"

"I did." Warrick asserted, straightening up and squaring his shoulders in an obvious attempt to appear as large as possible. "I found it under the kid's bed skirt."

"Was anyone else around when you found it?"

"Hey," Warrick snapped defensively. "I don't like where you're going with this..."

"Warrick." Grissom, until now merely an observer in this little rehash of the scene, cut in quickly before the hot-headed CSI could lose his rag. "No one's accusing anyone on this team of evidence tampering – are they, Mr Connelly?" His tone left no room for argument; and the officer began to squirm under the intense gaze of the grave-yard shift in its entirety.

"No," he cleared his throat at last. "Of course not."

In the awkward silence that followed, Catherine pursed her lips.

"Alright Agent Connelly, why don't you come with me. I can bring you up to speed on the evidence we have so far in the case."

The rest of the team watched them slope out, a mix of gratitude at Cath taking the heat away from them from a while; and pity for her having to deal with him for the remainder of the shift.

X x x

"So," Connelly hummed, dragging his hand lightly across the bags of evidence littering the table. "How old is your kid?"

"Sixteen." Cath answered absently, too focussed on her task at hand to notice the officer's eyebrows shoot up in surprise.

"Oh." He blinked. "I assumed when you said you needed a babysitter that she was ... a child."

This time Catherine stood up straight, her eyes flashing with indignant anger.

"She _is_ a child." The strawberry-blonde snapped. The agent almost recoiled in surprise at her sudden change in character, holding up his hands in defence.

"Okay." He pulled a face, reluctantly conceding to her point. "But, come on, most sixteen year olds can survive on their own for a couple of hours during the day; don't you think?"

"No, I don't." She retorted sullenly. "And I don't think it's any of your business how I raise my child."

"Ms Willows, with all due respect; a teenager is not a child."

"Oh please," she snorted. "What the hell would you know about raising kids?"

"You're pretty opinionated, aren't you Ms Willows?" He challenged. He wasn't sure whether her question was rhetorical or if she was actually expecting an answer, but he choose to sidestep it all the same.

She emitted a bitter laugh, shaking her long hair out.

"What the hell does that have to do with anything?" She barked, realising all too late that she was walking head-first into an Internal Affairs trap.

If you can't discredit the evidence, discredit the professionals; or let them do it themselves.

Thankfully, before she could cram her foot any further down her own throat, they were interrupted by a rather off-colour Archie.

"Hey, sorry to interrupt." He held up his hands, looking anything but sorry to be breaking up the heated fight.

"What is it Archie?" Catherine asked, clawing a stressed hand through her locks.

"I've been checking the Wilson's computer – you ... you guys are going to want to see this."

X x x

"Okay, I was checking the husband's laptop – check this out." He tapped a few keys, bringing up a series of hidden folders.

"Oh no." Catherine groaned, her face visibly paling as she instantly recognised what they were looking at. "How bad is it?"

"I'm only on the first folder." Archie confirmed grimly.

"Hey, I got your page." Grissom rushed in; too late, as ever. "What's the news?"

"Child pornography on the dad's computer." Catherine explained bluntly, fighting back the bile rising in her stomach.

The look on the supervisor's face pretty much summed up the general opinion on the matter, as his face contorted into a sickened scowl.

"Oh." He swallowed. "Well, at least that may give us a motive."

X x x

"Hey Arch." Nick greeted, exhaustion evident in his heavy voice and weary body-language. "How's it going in here?"

"I think I'm going blind." The tech shook his head, his eyes wide with the effects of too much caffeine. "There are thousands of downloaded images on here." He skipped through them, barely even registering the shocking nature anymore. "They range from young girls to teenagers, nothing so far to suggest he's distributing as well as downloading."

"Hey, wait stop!" Nick barked, dropping a hand roughly onto his shoulder. "Go back!"

Archie did as requested, flicking back a couple of images until Nick's fingernails digging into his shoulder blade indicated he had hit the right one.

"Oh man," the Texan groaned, his dark eyes falling shut.

Archie scrutinised the photo, trying to place the face.

"Is that...?"

"Yeah," Nick licked his dry lips. "And this case just got a whole lot worse."


End file.
